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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354720">Someone To Call My Lover</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlywordsnow/pseuds/onlywordsnow'>onlywordsnow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wynonna Earp (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Bisexuality, Dating, F/F, Sexuality, Talking, dating two people, kind of, no supernatural, patience - Freeform, self discovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:14:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlywordsnow/pseuds/onlywordsnow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Waverly has had the last straw with Champ, so she sticks it to him with revenge sex.  Or, she plans to, rather.  Not everything goes exactly as she planned.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>790</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. First Impression</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Back again!  I've had this one written for awhile.  I'm hoping that I can post this and while doing that finish up so other ones I've been working on so I can continue providing you with content.  Last year, I started trying to write little trope (if that's what it is) that I hate.  One of those things led me to this, a fic where a character is dating two people at the same time.  I hope it isn't terrible.  If it's any consolation, Waverly has more interactions with Jeremy than she does with Champ in this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At her wits end, Waverly decides to stick it to Champ and, really, no one would blame her.</p>
<p>It’s kind of all just a whirlwind for her, one that results in her being doused with alcohol and confusion. It plays out differently than she expects, that’s for damn sure, and now she’s trying to figure out just how this stranger in her bed takes her coffee. Making an executive decision, she decides to drop a little bit of sugar and a little bit of cream into the mug just the way she takes it...just in case the stranger doesn’t even like coffee and Waverly has to drink it herself.</p>
<p>Peeling it back, Waverly would have to say that the moment she decided to give Champ a taste of his own medicine really got lost in her cause. She no longer knows if it was about revenge or if it turned into being about survival. Or, maybe, it’s something else and she fell a little bit into like with this stranger.</p>
<p>They were perhaps a little too drunk for her to fully recall all of the emotions that she was feeling and, although embarrassed in herself, the stranger doesn’t really seem to deserve to be treated with any kind of anger or frustration. The bits and pieces Waverly does recall, there had been some kissing and laughing; when the stranger in her bed had tried to go home, Waverly had argued she’d had far too much to drink and when she said she would sleep on the couch, Waverly had insisted they can just share the bed.</p>
<p>Clutching the cup of coffee as she enters the bedroom, she’s prepared for her guest to still be asleep but is ultimately surprised to see her standing at the side of the bed while tucking the bedding in. Waverly nearly jumps when they lock eyes and the woman flashes her the most beautiful smile she’s ever seen. She’s suddenly saddened that the woman appears to be leaving.</p>
<p>“Are you leaving?” Waverly asks, but she doesn’t want to wait to hear the answer and instead lets her mouth take control, “I made coffee. I don’t know how you take it so I just put it together the way I take it. I hope that’s ok.”</p>
<p>“That’s very thoughtful,” the woman says kindly. Taking the cup from Waverly, she watches as she immediately takes a sip and swallows the warm liquid. She can tell that the woman doesn’t like it too much, but she puts on a convincing face. “It’s sweet. Like you.”</p>
<p>“Me?” Waverly musters.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she says, moving to sit on the corner of the mattress, “You have been a rather thoughtful host. Could have been way worse after we decided we were both maybe a little too intoxicated for something to happen between us.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Waverly says. She sits beside the woman on the mattress, still trying to digress exactly how she feels. She’s never really done this before, picked someone up at a bar. Let alone a woman. And, for a first time dip into the lady pool, she really hit the jackpot. Even sober Waverly thinks she’s probably the hottest person she’s ever met. She can’t help when she asks, “Go home with strangers often then?”</p>
<p>“Au contraire,” the woman replies, turning her head to look at Waverly with a grin, “Seems you made a rather formidable impression on me, Miss Earp.”</p>
<p>Waverly’s cheeks feel warm and she just takes a sip from her coffee. She peers at the woman over the brim of her mug and sees that Nicole is looking down into the liquid in her mug, absently tapping at the bottom of the ceramic. Trying to think back to the night before, Waverly tried to think what she could have said that could have been so impressive.</p>
<p>“I think maybe you were the impressive one,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“First time?” The woman asks.</p>
<p>“That obvious?” Waverly asks. She feels herself shrinking within herself, like maybe she said something wrong. Nicole takes a drink of the coffee and her jaw makes an obvious pull like maybe it’s too sweet. For a moment, Waverly feels guiltier. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I had a great time.”</p>
<p>“Me, too,” she replies. She downs the rest of her coffee and stands up, moving across the room to discard the empty mug on the nightstand. Waverly watches her as she moves around the room, red hair standing out against the white walls. “I better get going, but I had the best time with you, Waverly.”</p>
<p>“So soon?” She hears herself say. Looking away, Waverly is blushing again. She feels desperate to make her stay, reveling in a conversation where she feels like she’s being heard and responded to. “I just mean, it’s still early.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” the woman says. Waverly lifts her head and sees her moving around to where she sits. The woman takes the mug from Waverly’s hands and sits it on the surface nearest to them. Preparing herself, Waverly is only halfway ready for it when the woman kisses her. Her lips are soft and warm. She pulls back with a smile and says, “Call me, ok? I left my card on the nightstand. I’ll be waiting.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>Her breath catches in her throat as the woman walks away in all of her confident glory. Waverly can’t help but watch the way her ass looks in those jeans. All of her muscles tighten in her body as she throws herself back on her bed, her brain in a foggy daze. She hears the front door close and part of Waverly knows she should get up and make sure that it’s locked, but the other part of her just wants to stay here and soak up the woman’s scent.</p>
<p>She only lingers against the sheets for a few minutes before she forces herself up. Grabbing her cup of coffee as she makes her way over to the nightstand, she takes a sip of the drink. It does taste a little too sweet. She looks at the business card and takes note about her visitor. Her name is Nicole Haught, of course, and she’s a police officer for the Calgary police department. She tucks the card away in her drawer, deciding to save the phone number in her phone later.</p>
<p>She spends the afternoon tidying up her apartment. It isn’t necessarily messy in the first place, her anxiety is just higher than normal and she has a lot on her mind. As much as she likes Nicole (at least as much as someone could within 12 hours of knowing someone), she still needs to give herself some time to grieve her relationship with Champ. After all, they were together for a long time and she only even went to the bar in the first place to have a revenge fling to throw in his face.</p>
<p>Her plan failed and instead she brought home someone who she knew had permanently changed her life. If it doesn’t even end up going anywhere else between them, it at least introduced her to her attraction to the fairer sex. And she’s been debating all afternoon on whether or not she should call Nicole.</p>
<p>She hasn’t had options in so long. She’s been with Champ since she was 18 years old and despite his extracurricular sexual activities, she hasn’t much felt like she could move on from him. Not that he particularly brings a lot to the table, but he is familiar and nice enough. Even then, she’s angry because she’s been giving him her all but hasn’t been getting his in return.</p>
<p>Admittedly, spending one evening with Nicole the stranger was arguably better than nearly all of the evenings she’s had with Champ. That she can remember anyway. Her and Champ haven’t really had a lot of good evenings recently.</p>
<p>She thinks back to the evening before.</p>
<p>She’s sitting on a stool at the bar, sipping on a whiskey. She’s feeling rather down about her fight with Champ, the pointed end of this particular one being her telling him that they are done. She immediately charged out of his apartment and, after hours of sulking in her own apartment, decided she needs a drink.</p>
<p>She’s still on her first one when a tall, red headed woman takes a seat on the empty stool next to her. The bartender comes over, a muscular man who doesn’t seem to smile much which is pretty rare for her to be on the receiving end of, and provides the woman with a glass of bourbon. They sit beside each other, nursing their glasses in silence for a while.</p>
<p>Waverly isn’t really one to be so rude that she wouldn’t have a conversation with a stranger, but she just doesn’t think she has the energy to spark one up. With her glass empty, she considers just ditching her plan and the bar all together. She hasn’t really seen any guys who have caught her eye, especially one that she could throw in Champ’s face to make him jealous. Not that she cares about that jerk anymore.</p>
<p>Just as she makes the decision to bail, the woman beside her asks the bar to provide her with a refill. She even hears her say to put it on her tab. It takes a moment for Waverly to process what exactly is going on before her gaze shifts between the woman and the bartender.</p>
<p>“No, no,” she says, “That really isn’t necessary.”</p>
<p>“Consider it a conversation starter,” the woman replies. Waverly stares openly as the woman angles herself more, giving Waverly a much better view of her perfect features. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen a woman so beautiful. “I’m Nicole.”</p>
<p>“Nicole,” Waverly says slowly, lifting a hand to meet Nicole’s outstretched one, “Waverly. Waverly Earp.”</p>
<p>She’s immediately kicking herself for two reasons. First, for providing the stranger with her full name. Second, for being too distracted by this beautiful creature to stop the bartender from refilling her glass. Also, as a bonus, for repeatedly admitting that this Nicole woman is beautiful. She isn’t even drunk.</p>
<p>“Very pretty name,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” she says, “My family is really big on the W names.”</p>
<p>“Any correlation?” Nicole asks. She catches Nicole’s eye and sees a sparkle in it. Nicole is swirling her glass, the amber liquid licking the rim of her glass, but staring intently at Waverly. It makes her feel both anxious and incredibly seen. Maybe quite a bit vulnerable, even. She nods slowly. “Well, how lucky that it worked out. Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”</p>
<p>She blushes and looks away, immediately stuffing her mouth by taking a sip from her glass. The whiskey burns as it travels down to her stomach, settling there. She probably should have grabbed something to eat before filling her stomach up with alcohol.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Nicole says as she bends down to catch Waverly’s gaze again, “Am I being too forward? I have a tendency to really go for it.”</p>
<p>“No, no,” Waverly says quickly. She stops for a moment to consider Nicole’s compliments. Although they are a bit forward, Waverly isn’t as entirely opposed to them as she originally thought she would be in this circumstance. “Ok, maybe a little. But my ego could use a little inflating right now. I just broke up with my boyfriend of four years.”</p>
<p>“He sounds like an idiot,” Nicole says without hesitation. Waverly looks at her just in time to see Nicole grinning, dimples on her face so charming that Waverly begins to question every decision she’s ever made up until this point in her life. Waverly takes another drink. Nicole adds, “If you want to vent to a stranger, I’m offering an ear.”</p>
<p>“I’m just tired of the cheating,” Waverly says with a sigh once she’s swallowed.</p>
<p>“Now I know he’s an idiot,” Nicole replies. Waverly is blushing again. She’s already said too much to this stranger she knows almost nothing about. “Do you want to know a secret?”</p>
<p>“Uh,” Waverly says, “I guess so.”</p>
<p>“I’m here celebrating my divorce being finalized,” Nicole says. Waverly feels her body shift into defeat, feeling sadness for this woman beside her. She almost feels the tears prick at the corners of her eyes but the woman’s smile stops her. “It’s a good thing. We’re better off as friends. Besides, we’ve been separated longer than we were married.”</p>
<p>“Well, congratulations?” Waverly says with uncertainty.</p>
<p>“Not all endings are unhappy,” Nicole replies.</p>
<p>Waverly mulls over that for a few minutes. She just wants to forget about Champ and his inability to remain faithful for a few hours. This doesn’t have to be an unhappy ending.</p>
<p>“I guess you’re right,” Waverly says finally.</p>
<p>“So, Waverly, what do you do?” Nicole says.</p>
<p>“I’m a research assistant for a local news station,” she replies.</p>
<p>They chat a bit about Waverly’s work. Nicole follows along with an interest that keeps Waverly talking, spilling out all of her secrets, and as she drinks more she only tells Nicole more. She feels all thoughts of Champ leave her brain as the night progresses and when the bartender yells last call she can’t believe she’s been talking for hours upon hours.</p>
<p>“Fudge,” Waverly says, “I’ve been talking all night. You’re probably bored.”</p>
<p>“Not at all,” Nicole says. Waverly realizes that as they’ve drank more and talked more, she’s become more and more comfortable. Her hand is casually on Nicole’s knee and she seems absolutely unfazed. Nicole quickly checks her watch for the time as Waverly looks on, thinking about how inviting her lips look. “It is late though. I should probably close the tab so we can get going.”</p>
<p>Before she can protest, Nicole is paying the entire bill. She doesn’t catch a glimpse of the total and she’s honestly lost count of the number of drinks she’s had. She certainly owes Nicole something out of all of this.</p>
<p>“How much do I owe you?” She asks.</p>
<p>“Nothing,” Nicole says, “It’s on me.”</p>
<p>They step outside into the cold night air and she braces herself to say goodbye to this brilliant conversationalist that she really couldn’t get enough of in the long run. She doesn’t want to. Much to her surprise. She shivers and hugs herself to protect from the cold.</p>
<p>“Before you leave,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>Waverly looks up at her, wondering what exactly Nicole could have to say to her. Her eyes run across Nicole’s perfectly shaped nose down to her lips and dip to the exposed skin between her breasts. Despite her own potential awakening, she’s surprised when Nicole surges towards her and kisses her soundly on the lips. Her brain stutters before she’s kissing back, being sucked into the feeling of soft lips and a gentle touch. There may be sparks flying or electricity jolting through her fingertips. Maybe she’s drunker than she originally thought.</p>
<p>When they pull apart, Nicole is smiling and it’s comforting in a way she’s never felt before. Nicole’s hands are cupping her cheeks, keeping her minimally warm in the cold night air. Nicole says, “Sorry, I just felt like there was something there. Am I crazy?”</p>
<p>Waverly swallows thickly, still trying to get her brain back into motion. She feels like she can’t find the words to adequately answer so she just shakes her head. Nicole’s hands leave her face and retreat back to her own body.</p>
<p>“Can I at least walk you home?” Nicole says.</p>
<p>Finally, Waverly feels like she can form words, and she says, “It’s just a few blocks.”</p>
<p>“Lead the way,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>They head towards Waverly’s apartment, chatting idly about a few of the shops as they pass them. She can’t really stop thinking about the kiss, the way Nicole’s mouth slotted perfectly against hers without pressuring her to commit to anything more. When they get to her front door, she can see the fire in Nicole’s eyes begin to fade and she feels like she really can’t be responsible for that so she decides to do something scary and make a move, kissing Nicole with a confidence she only has because of alcohol before inviting her in.</p>
<p>There’s a knock on her front door that interrupts her digression of her feelings, forcing her to abandon her trying to figure out just exactly how the night before made her feel. She discards her book that she hasn’t read a single sentence of onto the coffee table before getting up to answer the door. When she opens it, all of her anger comes flooding back.</p>
<p>“Champ,” she says with disdain, “Why are you here?”</p>
<p>“Can I come in?” He says.</p>
<p>Waverly sucks in a deep breath and the smell of Nicole is gone, replaced with Champ’s overwhelming after shave. She misses the subtle scent of the woman, a peaceful reminder of being on the mend. Yet, despite that, she feels a certain obligation to let Champ in and get everything between them squared away.</p>
<p>“Ok,” she finally says. He barrels past her like he owns the place but doesn’t exactly make himself as comfortable as he normally would. He leans against the back of the couch and Waverly makes sure to keep a good amount of distance between them. “I hope you’re prepared to grovel.”</p>
<p>“What can I do to make things right?” He says.</p>
<p>“Champ,” she says, exhaustion suddenly taking her over. The sun is beginning to fade from the sky and, given her late night, her day is beginning to take its toll. She really doesn’t want to deal with this right now. “I really can’t keep doing this with you. It’s exhausting.”</p>
<p>“I know,” he says, like he really gets it even though she knows better.</p>
<p>“I’m ready, Champ. I’m ready to move on,” she admits, “I don’t want to keep being second choice.”</p>
<p>“You’re not,” he says. She looks into his eyes and, as beautiful as they are, sees that his heart isn’t in it. He smiles and stands up straighter. “Come on, you know you’re my girl.”</p>
<p>She thinks of Nicole’s smile, warm and comforting, and after just one day she feels more butterflies in the pit of her stomach than she does with Champ. Perhaps it’s just the newness of Nicole’s attention whereas with Champ she has consistency and history. The passion always fades, doesn’t it? Besides, women aren’t really her thing. But they could be.</p>
<p>“I don’t know if that’s what I want anymore,” she admits.</p>
<p>“What does that mean?” He asks, eyebrows furrowing deep.</p>
<p>“It means that maybe there’s someone else out there for me,” Waverly says, “I want to explore my options.”</p>
<p>Champ snorts at that, like he almost can’t believe anyone else would want her. It makes her angry, but she can’t help believing that maybe he’s right. She hasn’t necessarily had a lot of people ask her out on a date since she moved to the city.</p>
<p>“Wow, Waverly,” He says, huff falling out of his mouth, “I can’t believe you would do this to me. Not after everything I’ve done for you.”</p>
<p>“I’m not saying we have to break up,” Waverly says, “But you’ve gotten to have your fun. I just want to do the same.”</p>
<p>“Ok, Waverly,” he says, a smirk on his face, “Have your fun. We’ve been together a long time. You won’t leave me for some fling.”</p>
<p>“Thank you for respecting my wishes,” Waverly says. Champ shrugs like he doesn’t believe anything she’s saying. She just wants him to be better. “Just try, ok?”</p>
<p>“Ok,” he replies, “I’ll try. I gotta head out and meet the boys.”</p>
<p>Waverly wants to roll her eyes at that, at the way he really isn’t trying at all. Despite her annoyance, she nods. Truthfully, the last thing she wants to do tonight is entertaining him anyway. He leans forward and places a kiss against her cheekbone. She doesn’t feel anything, not even a flicker of light.</p>
<p>He leaves her apartment and all she feels is peace again. She’s probably still just angry and needs some time to get over it. Yeah, that’s definitely it.</p>
<p>It has nothing to do with Nicole.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Conflicted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Waverly tries to figure out this new thing about her.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waverly has spent the last few days conflicted.</p>
<p>Although she agreed to continue seeing Champ, mostly because they’ve been together for so long - he’s safe and she knows what to expect, she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Nicole. Bits and pieces have come back to her more solidly, but she hasn’t made any quick decisions on whether or not to contact Nicole yet. Mostly because she can’t decide what she wants out of it if she does give her a call.</p>
<p>It’s a whole can of worms that she’s never even considered before. She supposes that she could try just being friends with Nicole. After all, she doesn’t actually know if she’s interested in women anyway. It could have just been so many different factors making her feel vulnerable and seek comfort in the most willing person. With that in mind, Waverly thinks that Nicole is definitely a good person to have around in one way or another.</p>
<p>She should call her and see if she would like to go to a movie or have a coffee or something, anything to indicate they are friends to say the least.</p>
<p>She makes it through her Monday work day with minimal headaches. Her friend, Jeremy, who is her direct supervisor, has been eying her suspiciously all day and she’s managed to avoid any line of questioning. Even when she slips out to head home for the evening. She considers asking Jeremy to lunch the following day to see if she can ask him a few personal questions.</p>
<p>Not hearing from Champ much over the weekend after he left her apartment didn’t instill much faith in her. Although they do exchange a few text messages, they mostly are just an overview of how he has plans that keeps him busy throughout the week. He manages to make a jab that she’s the one who wanted to see other people just a handful of times.</p>
<p>He’s right, but it’s still frustrating that his heart isn’t much in it. Especially after he showed up at her apartment to ask her to give him another chance. If it weren’t for all of their time spent together, she probably would have said no to giving him a second chance. Especially when her mind is like a whirlwind of uncertainty.</p>
<p>When she gets home from work, she throws together a salad, opens up a bottle of white wine, and does what she does best - research. She consults google about all of the questions she can think of regarding sexuality. She goes down a rabbit hole of personal stories that keeps her up far past the time she should be awake considering her early start. All of the questions she has leftover she resolves to asking Jeremy over lunch, if he would be so kind as to oblige.</p>
<p>When she wakes the next morning, she’s overwhelmed with guilt for never actually contacting Nicole after she left her apartment. It’s eating away at her nerves and making her stomach hurt. She’s beginning to wonder if she will completely miss her chance. The fact that Champ hasn’t much contacted her either only adds to this ridiculous anxiety she’s feeling.</p>
<p>It takes her a few hours to work up the courage to ask Jeremy to lunch to discuss something private, but he seems elated at the prospect.</p>
<p>They walk to a cafe a few blocks away. It’s warm out, summer finally making an appearance after a late spring, so neither of them have coats. In fact, Waverly is wearing a rather cute sun dress that seems to catch a few appreciative gazes. She may have chosen it with the hopes to get this reaction, but now that she’s getting it she doesn’t know how to feel. If Jeremy notices, he doesn’t call attention to it.</p>
<p>At the cafe, they both order something vegan. It’s always nice taking lunch with Jeremy because he never makes her feel badly for not eating meat. Sometimes eating with Champ is such a hassle for that reason, and it just isn’t fun.</p>
<p>They take a seat across from each other at a little table by the window. Even though the place is bustling with customers, no one really seems to pay them any attention. Jeremy doesn’t pry into her thoughts even though she can tell he is dying to find out what’s going on. She’s just having a little difficulty approaching the subject.</p>
<p>“So, Champ and I broke up,” Waverly starts. She watches Jeremy’s face contort with a billion questions, eyebrows rising on his forehead. She reaches for her water, but waits to take a sip. “But then we got back together.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Jeremy says. His face changes drastically into disappointment, perhaps.</p>
<p>“And during that time I, um, I met someone,” Waverly admits. Jeremy perks up again, interest fully peaked. The server brings their food over to the table and they both dig in. Jeremy is wiggling with impatience but trying his best. After a few minutes of silent chewing, Waverly decides to bite the bullet. “How did you know you were gay?”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Jeremy says around a mouthful of food, and he nearly chokes but manages to swallow it down, “I guess I just, I always knew. Objectively and scientifically speaking I know when a woman is attractive, but I’ve never really been physically attracted to one.”</p>
<p>“So I can just find another woman attractive and it doesn’t have to mean anything?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>“Sure,” Jeremy says, “I guess that’s possible.”</p>
<p>“I just, I don’t know,” Waverly says, sighing heavily, “When we kissed I felt like sparks or something.”</p>
<p>Jeremy chokes on his water, nearly spitting it everywhere. He coughs and sputters while trying to regain his composure. Finally, he says, “You kissed a woman?”</p>
<p>“Well, we had been drinking,” Waverly admits. She feels shy all of a sudden and avoids contact with Jeremy. Although she’s sure that he wouldn’t judge her, she can’t help feeling so conflicted. “I suppose I’m just confused about everything. Was it just the alcohol?”</p>
<p>“They don’t call it liquid courage for nothing,” Jeremy replies. He shrugs there like none of this is a big deal to him, and she would guess that probably not. She’s just having a crisis. “It’s likely that you’ve always subconsciously wondered what it would be like to kiss a woman but the opportunity has just never presented itself. So, how was it?”</p>
<p>Waverly attempts to contain herself, not to gush too much about the fact that she’s basically replayed that make out session often since Nicole left her apartment. She also still hasn’t mentioned that Nicole stayed the night. Nor has she mentioned that Nicole left her phone number and Waverly still hasn’t utilized it.</p>
<p>“It was nice,” Waverly says, tamping down the internal scream erupting inside of her. She’s been thinking of it far too much for it to be considered just nice. She shakes her head to emphasize that it means nothing. “She was a good kisser.”</p>
<p>“A good kisser,” Jeremy mumbles under his breath. Waverly pretends not to hear him. She knows he’s just politely dying for the details.</p>
<p>“Ok, a very good kisser,” Waverly corrects. She knows she isn’t providing him any more details but she doesn’t know if there’s really anything to tell. What if the next time she sees Nicole she doesn’t even have the desire to kiss her? If there even is a next time. She shrugs and says, “But it’s probably nothing.”</p>
<p>“Only one way to find out,” Jeremy teases.</p>
<p>She placates him with a fake laugh, but his words ring in her head like a broken record. In fact, she thinks about them for the rest of the day and comes to the conclusion that he’s given sage advice. So when she gets home she begins constructing the basis of an apology for not contacting Nicole sooner with the suggestion of them meeting for a coffee or a movie.</p>
<p>However, before she can call or even type out a text, Champ comes around. He doesn’t stick around long and they don’t even have much physical contact beyond a very uncomfortable kiss and a weirdly platonic resembling hug. But, his time around her apartment leaves her too exhausted to stay up much longer before she has to wake up early for work again.</p>
<p>The following day she ponders why the idea of even sending a text to a woman she may or may not be attracted to is so difficult. In fact, it seems that Jeremy has been allowed to sleep on it and now has an abundance of questions which leads to them spending a good hour of their research time constructing the perfect text to Nicole. She’s reading over it for the fifth or sixth time when she accidentally hits send and her heart drops into her stomach.</p>
<p>They stage a debate about whether or not she should just put her phone into airplane mode to avoid the response all together. She argues for. Jeremy argues against. Ultimately, their debate carries on for so long that she is yielded an enthusiastic response to her rather embarrassing text. In the text Nicole agrees to coffee but says she won’t be available until Saturday morning. Waverly is a little bummed at this but agrees nonetheless. Nicole texts again to say her lunch break is over but she will message again later.</p>
<p>The text comes later. Much later than Waverly is hoping. It is nearly 8pm when Nicole apologizes for taking so long to get back to her, but she had a stack of paperwork to complete before going home. Waverly completely understands given that she comes from a long line of lawmen. Although they were small town people and most likely didn’t have as much paperwork as a big city police officer such as Nicole. They text a bit until she announces she is exhausted and goes to bed.</p>
<p>She doesn’t hear much from Champ the next few days but she does exchange messages with Nicole. Nothing that merits much worth talking about, yet she and Jeremy still manage to talk about it. She knows that she will discover the nature of her true feelings in just a few days’ time, but it’s possible that she could just be wrapped up in the newness of it.</p>
<p>Come Saturday morning, she’s nervous and jittery despite not yet having a cup of coffee. In fact, on the way to their meeting place, she decides it is probably in her best interest to not get a coffee at all but to stick with a tea instead. She arrives promptly and orders a breakfast tea and a black coffee. She scans the shop for the best table before collecting the drinks and goes to it, staking her claim. She waits for a few minutes before the bell on the door screams, announcing Nicole’s arrival.</p>
<p>Waverly gulps at the sight of her. Her black jeans are tight and she’s wearing a gray t-shirt that says Calgary police department on it. Momentarily, Waverly thinks that she way overdressed, especially because her outfit screams something that she isn’t necessarily sure that she wants.</p>
<p>“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Nicole says, lightly touching her hand as she sits across from her, “I just got off shift and had to run home to change.”</p>
<p>“Jesus, if I had known,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“No, no,” Nicole says, voice warm and comforting. She moves to pull her hand back and Waverly instinctively flips her hand over, palms brushing. Nicole smiles and looks down at her hand. “I have to stay awake all day anyway. I need all the coffee I can get.”</p>
<p>“If you’re sure,” Waverly replies. She feels guilty for asking Nicole to meet up after staying awake all night, but the feelings rustling inside of her etch away at the guilt. She pulls her hand back and clasps the steaming mug of tea. “I’m really sorry it took so long to reach out.”</p>
<p>“I’m glad you did,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>“I got you a coffee. Plain this time,” Waverly says. Nicole takes a sip and offers her appreciation. Waverly looks away, down at Nicole’s hand still on the table, and says, “I owed you a drink.”</p>
<p>They chat for a while about their week, how work has been. Waverly shares that her week was mostly uneventful. It’s partially true. She’s been doing a lot of independent research on sexuality and trying to figure out if she could perhaps be interested in Nicole. She had decided that when she saw Nicole again she would know and she instantly knew she felt something, but is terrified to even think about the possibility. It’s a whole new thing she would have to learn, but it at least allows her more research.</p>
<p>After two cups of coffee, they make their way out of the shop. Nicole suggests they hit a park and Waverly isn’t exactly opposed to it because she isn’t really ready to say goodbye. She feels like she has a lot of things left to figure out.</p>
<p>The more time they spend together, the more the connection between them starts to scare her. They hardly have a break in their conversation, and everything that they’ve disagreed about has been a polite disagreement. During this time, she learns more about Nicole. She even tells Waverly a little bit about her ex-wife, but only speaks kindly of her.</p>
<p>After about an hour of walking around, they find a bench. Aside from their brief contact when Nicole first arrived, they haven’t touched since. Despite the fact that Waverly has had the urge to figure out this feeling in the pit of her stomach.</p>
<p>Nicole’s knee is pressed against her thigh with her body angled towards Waverly, looking directly at her rather than overlooking any of the park. With her arm across the back of the bench, she feels Nicole’s fingertips brush across her bare shoulder. Waverly shivers beneath her touch, despite the sun shining brightly and the air being incredibly warm.</p>
<p>Waverly feels Nicole push at her hair, tucking the strand away behind her ear. She looks down for a moment before glancing over at Nicole. Her stomach feels warm under Nicole’s gaze and for the first time, their conversation has come to a halt.</p>
<p>“I just want to try something,” Nicole says softly.</p>
<p>Waverly knows she should be expecting it, but her mind blanks again. Nicole leans across the bench and places a kiss against Waverly’s mouth. She parts her lips, giving in to her curiosity, and firmly kissing Nicole back. Their mouths meld for a bit, tongues sweeping gently against one another, until Waverly’s brain catches up.</p>
<p>She pulls back, embarrassed. She’s making out with a stranger in the park, which is something difficult enough to comprehend, but she’s also making out with a woman for the first time sober. Her brain short circuits. She can’t deal with this right now, not even with whatever warmth is blooming in her chest.</p>
<p>“Do you always try kissing your friends?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>Nicole tilts her head there, patient yet firm. She offers Waverly a smile, but Nicole’s hand draws away from her shoulders and returns to the back of the bench. Nicole says, “I have enough friends, Waverly. I’m not looking for a new friend.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Waverly says, looking away. She feels the tears welling in her eyes but she doesn’t quite know why.</p>
<p>“I think I know what’s going on,” Nicole says. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Nicole rest her hands in her lap as she shifts on the bench. She wants to fight back the tears, but she’s afraid to hear whatever Nicole might say and to feel the emotions she’s feeling. “I like you, Waverly, and I’m pretty sure you like me, too. I can feel it whenever we’re together, that energy. It’s ok to be scared. To be honest, I’m a little scared, too, but I’m here.”</p>
<p>Waverly knows then that she’s fucking terrified. She’s terrified for feeling something for someone who isn’t Champ. She’s terrified that she has to redefine herself. She’s terrified that she’s never felt something like this before, but with this comes so much explaining to do.</p>
<p>“I’ve never really done this before,” Waverly admits.</p>
<p>“That’s ok,” Nicole says, “It’s ok that you’ve never done this before, but I’m not trying to play games. I know what I want.”</p>
<p>“I’m scared,” Waverly says again.</p>
<p>“I know,” Nicole says. They sit in silence for a minute or two before she feels Nicole’s hand cover her own. Nicole entwines their fingers together and leans closer to Waverly, she can feel Nicole’s breath on her neck. “Let me take you to dinner this week. A real date. I’ll show you I’m not that scary.”</p>
<p>Waverly swallows the lump in her throat. She’s given this some real thought since Nicole left her apartment a week ago, the way that her lips feel when they kiss and the way that Nicole makes her feel. But it’s scary. She doesn’t know what to expect from Nicole, not like what she can expect from Champ. If she lets herself fall in love with Nicole, she thinks that she could really good and truly end up hurt.</p>
<p>Despite that, she hears herself agreeing.</p>
<p>They spend a little bit more time in the park before they both realize the day is getting away from them and they still have things to do. When they part ways, Waverly has a lot to think about. She thinks about the culmination of her time with Nicole versus her time with Champ. Although it isn’t fair to compare the two, especially after spending such little time with Nicole, it helps Waverly decide that she needs to see this through no matter how scared she is.</p>
<p>Of course, when Champ texts her at 3am to see if he can crash at her place, she misses the text. She wakes up in the morning with Champ in her bed, hogging her blankets. She’s freezing. While he’s asleep, she makes a decision to steal her keys off of Champ’s key ring to give herself a little bit of privacy. She no longer wants to see him exclusively on his terms, but when she wants to see him as well.</p>
<p>He wakes up close to noon, telling her repeatedly that she should make him breakfast. She’s spent the morning exchanging a few texts with Nicole and doing a little bit of research for work. She still has a bit more work to do so she declines his invitation to make him breakfast and insists that he meet up with a few of his friends. He gives her a sloppy kiss on his way out and she has to remind herself that this disgusted feeling is exclusively because she’s still angry with him. She’s just going to give it some time.</p>
<p>Monday rolls around quickly, but the day drags on. She is supposed to go to dinner with Nicole on Tuesday so her day couldn’t go by fast enough. She shares with Jeremy her news but he does nothing to quell her nerves, only manages to make it worse with his stories about his chaotic dates. She hasn’t really been on a date since she was a senior in high school and she truly is out of the game. Absently, she wishes she would could do things the way Champ does and just have a few one night stands. They don’t hurt as much as they should.</p>
<p>She’s barely been in the office for 5 full minutes when Jeremy says, “So, how was your coffee date?”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t a date,” Waverly protests all too quickly. Especially for someone who in fact does consider whatever happened on Saturday a date. She looks up from getting her desk for the day situated, her laptop still closed and her vegan breakfast a little to the right of it. She leans back in her chair, looking at how unconvinced Jeremy looks, and gives in to his scrutiny. “Fine, it may have been a date. It had all of the elements. The coffee. The kiss. The asking for another date.”</p>
<p>He coos in response; the rest of the office is silent. They are the only ones who arrive first thing in the morning. Everyone else has a much later shift that goes further into the evening.</p>
<p>Leaning forward in her chair again, she places her arms on her desk to keep herself up. She says, “We talked for nearly four hours. We’re going to dinner tomorrow night.”</p>
<p>They are silent as they finish getting their devices and their research set up, only the sound of clicks and clacks passing between them. She knows there’s one thing she still needs to figure out in all of this. Even though she feels a certain annoyance settle between her eyes every time she’s around Champ, she’s aware that all of it could be easily explained. She can’t be too hasty in a big decision like this.</p>
<p>“So you said you and Champ got back together,” Jeremy starts. He takes a sip from his Optimug Prime. His eyes probe her with questions he hasn’t asked and she squirms a little, not really sure how to feel.</p>
<p>“Nicole may or may not be a little revenge dating,” Waverly admits.</p>
<p>“Oh boy,” Jeremy mutters, “As in you are afraid to admit it or you might actually like her?”</p>
<p>“This is scary,” Waverly whines, “Besides, Champ and I have been together for a long time. I can’t just dump him because I’m mad at him. That isn’t how relationships work.”</p>
<p>“It’s how a lot of relationships work,” Jeremy argues weakly.</p>
<p>“Sure, I went out intent on giving Champ a taste of his own medicine when I met Nicole, but I do like her. She’s smart and funny and a cop. Did I mention she’s a cop?” Waverly says. Jeremy is smiling and nodding, a pillar of inquisition and a research guru. It’s like she can read his mind asking her questions he never voices. She’s basically just spilling her guts everywhere. “I told Champ I want to have my fun and that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m doing exactly what I want and if anyone doesn’t like it, well, they can eat shit.”</p>
<p>“Wow,” Jeremy says, wide eyed. Waverly’s eyes widen too because she didn’t realize she is so passionate about this. Perhaps she just needs to take a break altogether and let the dust settle. “It doesn’t have to be serious, Waves.”</p>
<p>“Exactly,” she absently agreed. Sighing heavily, her minds wanders away from the work in front of her. Maybe now that she has options she can feel them both out and see which one she is most compatible with. There’s just one thing that’s eating away at her. “Jeremy, do I have to come out now?”</p>
<p>“Well,” he starts slow but his face is ultimately revealing, “You have to decide what’s best for you. Is Nicole a special case or is she just opening your eyes to a part of yourself you’ve never considered before? Either way, you do it all on your terms, ok, Waves? Don’t let anyone pressure you into anything before you’re ready.”</p>
<p>She nods slowly and they go about their morning, falling into their research routine. Occasionally they speak about the topics they have to do research on and when the rest of the team arrives in the office they do their normal lunch routine. Waverly spends most of this time mentally digging through her closet trying to decide what she’s going to wear for her date with Nicole the following day.</p>
<p>The rest of the day is mostly uneventful. That carries over into Tuesday at work. Despite her jitters throughout the day as she thinks about the possibility of her date with Nicole. She goes home at her normal time, but has 4 hours to kill before her date.</p>
<p>Just as she starts to get ready, still having not decided on an outfit, she hears a knock on her front door. It’s a banging that sounds erratic and impatient. Her nostrils flare at the prospect of seeing Champ right now, especially because he hasn’t bothered to make much of a plan to get together over the week. She opens the front door with annoyance fresh on her features when she immediately stops in her tracks.</p>
<p>“Wynonna?” She says, confused at the sight of her older sister, “What are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“I just drove three thousand miles to see you and that’s the thanks I get?” Wynonna replies, “At least buy me a drink before you ream me.”</p>
<p>“I - I can’t,” Waverly stutters, “I have a date.”</p>
<p>“Champ finally bucking up and putting some effort into my baby sister?” Wynonna says. She slips inside of the apartment without an invitation and Waverly follows closely behind, shutting the front door behind them.</p>
<p>“Not exactly,” Waverly says. She huffs as Wynonna drops down onto the couch and makes herself comfortable. Waverly isn’t really ready to get into it, not when her sister has the worst timing and she’s already flustered enough. “The date isn’t with Champ.”</p>
<p>“Finally dumped his ass,” Wynonna replies, “I’m proud; baby girl.”</p>
<p>“I can’t really get into it right now,” Waverly says, “But I do need help deciding which outfit to wear.”</p>
<p>“Bring the ladies out to play and you’re definitely getting laid,” Wynonna says. Waverly rolls her eyes in response. The idea terrifies her, sailing into uncharted waters, especially when she thinks about doing something she hasn’t done ample research about. Wynonna follows her into her bedroom, ripping through all of the options on the bed. “I like this. I’m taking this.”</p>
<p>Waverly, despite Wynonna’s attempts to distract her, manages to get ready with 5 minutes to spare. She warns Wynonna to mind her own business when there’s a knock at the door and she answers in a rush. Not giving Nicole a chance to say anything, she closes the front door behind her and takes her down the hallway.</p>
<p>“Whoa,” Nicole says when they reach the top of the stairs, “Is everything ok?”</p>
<p>“Fine fine fine,” Waverly replies quickly. She grasps Nicole’s upper arm and ushers her down the stairs. Once they’re outside she feels like she can breathe easier. She sighs and says, “I’m sorry. That was weird. I’m being weird.”</p>
<p>“It’s ok to be nervous,” Nicole says. Nicole laughs softly and it manages to make Waverly feel a little better. She offers Nicole a smile, trying to steady her panic. “Hey, you ok?”</p>
<p>Sighing, she feels Nicole’s hand lightly press against the small of her back and she nods. She says, “You’re right. I’m just a little nervous.”</p>
<p>“I’m nervous, too,” Nicole replies. Walking a little bit further with Nicole guiding her with her light touch, Waverly absently wonders where they’re going. She already feels like she’s ruined the date, put it off to a rocky start. “Almost there.”</p>
<p>When they arrive at the restaurant and are shown their table, Waverly feels the heat in her cheeks rise at finally getting the full view of Nicole. She’s wearing a pair of maroon pants with black boots, a black shirt and a black jacket. This all accentuates Nicole’s muscular forearms.</p>
<p>“I’m really sorry about back at my apartment,” Waverly says, shifting in the chair beneath her, “My sister just showed up a few hours ago and I haven’t seen her in a while.”</p>
<p>“We could have rescheduled if you wanted to spend time with her,” Nicole replies, “I would have understood.”</p>
<p>Waverly smiles hearing that. Champ would never understand when Wynonna just dropped into town and she wanted to spend time with her older sister. As much as she loves Wynonna though, she is a ball of energy that Waverly can hardly keep up with.</p>
<p>“Truthfully,” Waverly says, “I’m sort of a planner. It’s very important to me that I stick to a date once it’s been made.”</p>
<p>“I just want you to enjoy your time with me,” Nicole says with a shrug.</p>
<p>“I am!” Waverly says quickly. It’s in her instinct to offer comfort to Nicole by reaching across the table and grabbing her hand, letting her fingers linger against her warm palm. She offers a smile, but she’s suddenly filled with worry that she’s screwed up so badly she can’t recover. “I promise. I’ve been looking forward to this. My sister actually came in handy helping me decide what to wear.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Nicole says, looking slightly shook but quickly regaining all confidence, “Well, the two of you made a great choice. You look beautiful.”</p>
<p>Waverly blushes. She can feel the compliment in her belly, warming her up from the inside out. She doesn’t hear any further intent on Nicole’s voice and it’s kind of a nice change.</p>
<p>After a moment of recollecting herself, she looks up and says, “Can I ask you a question?”</p>
<p>“Sure,” Nicole answers, “Anything.”</p>
<p>Their hands are still touching but they aren’t linked, like they can go back to their corners for a break at any given moment. Waverly feels a little silly, especially with so many questions on the forefront of her mind. She’s been obsessing over doing this right, over being certain about how she might feel, but not knowing how to tell the difference.</p>
<p>“Am I doing this right?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>“Doing...?” Nicole looks confused by the question. Nicole stares at her hard with furrowed eyebrows, like she’s trying to determine what Waverly means. Waverly’s breathing becomes more shallow, suddenly afraid she will have to elaborate. Finally, Nicole shakes her head and says, “I don’t think there’s a right way to do this. If we’re both having a good time, then I’d say something is working out in our favor. Are you having a good time?”</p>
<p>“I’m still just really nervous,” Waverly says, leaning back into her chair; her hand slides just inches from Nicole’s with the movement, “Honestly, I haven’t really been on a date in a long time.”</p>
<p>“The lousy boyfriend,” Nicole says, “Right.”</p>
<p>Before meeting Nicole, Waverly would have had anger flare up in Champ’s defense at a comment like that. Regardless of how true a comment like that has always been. The only reason she’s even afraid of completely pulling the plug is because he’s familiar and getting to know someone new is scary.</p>
<p>Throughout the dinner, they chat about random things. Waverly does more talking than she ever remembers doing on a date with anyone, and every time she voices her guilt about talking too much Nicole keeps her going with another question. When Nicole gets up to go to the bathroom before they leave, she starts thinking about how Nicole might be an excellent interrogator, getting anyone to open up.</p>
<p>As Nicole heads back from the bathroom, Waverly stands to meet her and before she knows it they are outside. The sun has gone down but the air is still thick with warmth. The butterflies are still in her stomach, but the nerves have been long forgotten.</p>
<p>“So, is this sister expecting you back any time soon?” Nicole asks.</p>
<p>Waverly regards the question for a moment before she realizes that she really has no idea what Wynonna’s plans are. For all she knows, Wynonna is already gone without a plan of return. Waverly has always been a little jealous at how easy it’s been for Wynonna to fly by the seat of her pants. Meanwhile, she’s always had a clear plan. Look how that’s turned out.</p>
<p>“I have no idea,” Waverly admits, “But I totally understand if you’re ready to go home. I’m sure you’ve had a long day and I’ve spent most of your evening talking your ear off.”</p>
<p>“None of those things are directly related,” Nicole points out. Nicole stops walking and when Waverly notices, she turns to look at her with an unspoken question in her eyes. The words are on the tip of tongue, why are they stopping, when Nicole cuts her off. She says, “I’m having a really great time with you and I really don’t want this night to end just yet. Besides, I happen to enjoy listening to you.”</p>
<p>“You do?” Waverly asks, a little taken aback.</p>
<p>“Let me ask you a question,” Nicole says, more of a request than the actual question. Waverly tilts her head and nods slowly. She doesn’t have a clue what Nicole could ask her, those nerves that disappeared immediately flaring up again. “Do you feel something here with me?”</p>
<p>Waverly opens her mouth but she can’t find the words. Nicole, who has politely let Waverly finish every single thought this evening, doesn’t hesitate to continue speaking. Nicole says, “Because I’m feeling something and, like I said, I know what I want. I want to keep seeing you, and I think I’ve proven I’m not that scary.”</p>
<p>“Oh, but you are,” Waverly says, “You’re very scary.”</p>
<p>Nicole grins at that, her dimples making Waverly swoon in a way she thought she was never going to get to swoon. Champ never made her feel so alive. She feels her chest tighten, and it’s possible that her heart stops beating.</p>
<p>“Why do I scare you so much?” Nicole asks.</p>
<p>“Because,” Waverly says. She sighs and turns away from Nicole, hiding her face away to keep her blush at bay. It, of course, isn’t working. She can feel the warmth on her cheeks. “I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s just, it’s a lot. We didn’t even sleep together.”</p>
<p>“Well,” Nicole says, drawing out the word. Waverly laughs and hits her lightly against the stomach. Nicole laughs too and catches her hand, pulling her a bit closer. “I can’t stop thinking about you either.”</p>
<p>Nicole entwines their fingers with ease and turns back in the direction they were walking, encouraging Waverly to walk with her. They really aren’t that far from Waverly’s apartment and she knows the walk will be rather short. Part of her aches at the idea that they will be parting so soon.</p>
<p>“Would you like to join me for a drink?” Nicole asks. When they lock eyes, she watches as all of Nicole’s confidence fades. She throws her head back a bit and groans softly. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a work night. I shouldn’t even suggest it. I just can’t help myself.”</p>
<p>“Nicole,” Waverly says, softening as she reaches out to lay a hand against Nicole’s forearm. She squeezes the muscle, getting lost in the way Nicole is so subtly defined. Smiling, she says, “Just one drink, ok? I have a really early start and you need to be in top form.”</p>
<p>“I’m always in top form,” Nicole replies. She winks and it makes Waverly blush.</p>
<p>Stepping into the same place that they met in, they decide against sitting at the bar and opt to sit on an empty couch in a quiet area. The place is much emptier now that it’s a week night. As they get comfortable, a waitress comes by to take their drink orders. This time they both order martinis.</p>
<p>As they sit, their knees touch. Nicole is relaxed and inviting, even without the alcohol. She feels Nicole’s hand lightly touch her back, making soothing movements as Waverly exhales.</p>
<p>“So, tell me about this sister,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>“Wynonna is crazy,” Waverly says. Nicole pulls a face and it makes Waverly panic. She turns more towards Nicole and places both hands on her knee, trying to be convincing as she speaks. “Not like a bad crazy. She just has a ton of energy and is really difficult to keep up with. And she’s kind of a free spirit. But she’s always looking out for me.”</p>
<p>“Sounds fun,” Nicole replies. The waitress brings the drinks and discards them on the table in front of them. With that, Nicole scoots closer to the edge of the cushion so she can reach for her glass. “I think we should toast, don’t you?”</p>
<p>“To what?” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“To a third date,” Nicole answers with a grin. Waverly blushes but picks up her glass anyway, clinking the time together. They take drinks from their respective glasses. Setting their drinks back down, Waverly nods slowly. “What do you say?”</p>
<p>Waverly stills in her movements. She doesn’t want to say no, but she doesn’t know what Wynonna’s plans are. Or Champ’s, for that matter. Despite her brain beginning to move a million miles a minute, she can’t gather the courage to move until Nicole gently places a hand against her back just below her shoulder blade. Waverly swallows thickly and tilts her chin up, moving her upper body to close the distance between them so she can place a soft kiss against Nicole’s mouth. It’s the first time she’s managed to make a move like this, and Nicole certainly encourages it as her hand moves across Waverly’s shoulders to wrap around the back of her neck.</p>
<p>When they pull apart, Waverly’s trying to get her foggy brain to clear. She leans her forehead against Nicole’s. She watches as Nicole smiles widely, confident and sexy, before she says, “I’ll take that as a yes.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but to be determined,” Waverly finally answers.</p>
<p>They chat idly for a bit while they sip on their drinks. She notices it is nearly 11 and sighs heavily as they get off of the couch. Before Nicole even moves she clasps her fingers around Waverly’s hand, pulling just enough to lead her out of the slightly busier bar. They walk a little way down the sidewalk in silence and she just enjoys the fact that someone is being so affectionate with her in such a sweet way.</p>
<p>“It’s pretty late. You’re probably exhausted,” Nicole comments. Waverly is, but she is thriving under Nicole’s attention. She would probably drag Nicole upstairs for a totally innocent cuddle session if it weren’t for the possibility of Wynonna still being in her apartment. “I’ll say goodbye downstairs rather than at the door so you don’t have to answer a billion questions tonight.”</p>
<p>Waverly feels her heart swell at how considerate Nicole is being. She hasn’t had anyone take her into consideration in any way, shape or form for quite some time. Even when Wynonna does stop by for a visit, it’s usually with the expectation that Waverly should ignore her responsibilities and simply entertain her older sister.</p>
<p>“But, for the record, I would totally walk you to your door and kiss you good night,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>“That’s very thoughtful,” Waverly says. They get to her building and they slow to a stop, Waverly turning to face Nicole. Nicole is smiling and Waverly is certainly understanding the appeal she has. She looks sexy in all of her confidence. “Let me know you get home safely.”</p>
<p>She feels stupid the moment she says it because of course Nicole will get home safely, she’s a cop. Nevertheless, Nicole’s smile only widens. Perhaps because it indicates that Waverly is worried about her well-being.</p>
<p>Nicole leans down for a slow kiss, one that Waverly finds herself deepening by pulling her closer by the back of her neck. Nicole’s hands press lightly against her hips, treating her like she’s delicate and precious. Their tongues touch and she tastes Nicole’s mouth, feels the warmth of her exhale through her nose against her cheek. They pull back at the same time and Waverly thinks that it’s possible the kisses keep getting better and better.</p>
<p>“I’ll see you later,” Nicole says, stepping back.</p>
<p>With the distance between them, the night air feels colder. She smiles and, for once, it seems sad. It makes Waverly feel so bad that she can’t invite her inside even if she wants to. Nicole gives her a quick wave before turning on her heel and heading down the sidewalk.</p>
<p>Waverly watches her retreating form disappear into the night’s shadows before she heads upstairs to her apartment. The universe must be looking out for her because Wynonna is passed out on her couch so she can freely go to bed. By the time she’s done changing and getting herself ready to climb in for the night, her phone lights up with a message from Nicole, telling her that she’s home, she had a great time, and to sleep well.</p>
<p>It’s then that Waverly realizes that she hasn’t heard from Champ since the day before.</p>
<p>Some effort he’s been making.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Littering And</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Waverly is at the height of her confusion.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She wakes up littered with guilt.</p>
<p>Guilt because as little effort as Champ has been putting in, she’s been putting in just as little effort. In part because her mind has been elsewhere, on a certain redhead who is not only a fabulous kisser but who also sends her the sweetest good morning texts. This all plays directly into her guilt because Nicole doesn’t exactly know the deal between her and Champ, mostly because when she’s with Nicole she almost forgets he exists entirely.</p>
<p>It’s been days since her dinner date with Nicole and Wynonna, being typical Wynonna, hasn’t much hounded her about the date and has more focused about the getting laid aspect of it. She has even repeatedly stated that she made sure to be gone so Waverly could bring the date back to her apartment. Which only manages to flare up her fear about telling Wynonna that she’s not only dating Champ but a woman as well.</p>
<p>In all honesty, she’s been avoiding both Nicole and Champ while Wynonna has been at her apartment. On Friday afternoon, she resolves to spend the evening with Wynonna since she doesn’t have any real responsibilities in the morning. When it’s nearly the time that she leaves work for the week, she receives a mostly lewd text from Champ. Her whole demeanor is just sad at the realization that the text isn’t from Nicole.</p>
<p>Despite having promised Wynonna that she would spend the evening with her and conveying that adequately to Champ, he still incessantly repeats that he’s going to be coming over. When she gets home from work, she informs Wynonna that Champ will be coming by so they have to wait for him. Wynonna huffs and immediately goes into the kitchen to start pregaming.</p>
<p>“He better not ruin our night,” Wynonna yells.</p>
<p>Waverly doesn’t want to be so dismissive, especially after realizing that neither of them have really been trying too hard, but she silently agrees with her sister. Before Waverly can even reply, there’s a knock on the door. Champ isn’t normally prompt so when she opens the door to see him, she smiles.</p>
<p>“Hey, babe,” Champ says with a wide smile. His teeth almost look whiter, and she narrows her gaze on him. She feels like she’s studying him hard, noting every change. There might even be too many at first glance. “Your sister here?”</p>
<p>“She’s pre-gaming,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“Perfect!” He replies with almost too much enthusiasm. He kisses her cheek before slipping past her and heading into the kitchen. Champ and Wynonna were in high school together and, even though Wynonna has never particularly liked Champ, they do have a long history of partying together. “Let’s get the party started!”</p>
<p>“You’re such a sleaze,” Wynonna replies. Waverly hears Champ yelp and she’s pretty sure Wynonna landed a frog punch to his arm. She hears the abundance of Wynonna’s bracelets jingle together with the movement. “Hey! Share!”</p>
<p>She leaves them in the kitchen to down the contents of a bottle of alcohol while she finishes getting ready in her bedroom. Their bickering sounds weird from the other room, almost a lot like flirting despite that she knows Wynonna hates his guts. She finally settles on a dress, one she hasn’t worn before that has pockets. When she makes it out of her bedroom, Champ is sitting on the couch while Wynonna is nowhere to be seen.</p>
<p>“Where’s Wyn?” She asks him.</p>
<p>“Kitchen,” he replies, not looking up from his phone.</p>
<p>She sighs before heading into the kitchen, where Wynonna is eating a sandwich. Waverly grimaces at the slimy looking lunch meat hanging out of it and wonders how her sister could eat that stuff. Her kitchen looks like hurricane Wynonna hit it but all she’s walked away from it with is a sandwich. She’ll have to clean up when she gets home.</p>
<p>“You about ready?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>“All aboard,” Wynonna says with a mouthful of food, “Toot, toot.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?” Waverly asks, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.</p>
<p>“The fun train,” Wynonna says. She swallows and shoves the remainder of her sandwich in her mouth. Phone lighting up on the counter, Wynonna reaches for it with a jingle of her overdone bracelets. She says, “Uber’s here.”</p>
<p>“Okay, let me get my purse,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“Let’s roll, baby girl,” Wynonna says.</p>
<p>They walk like a train out of the kitchen and she’s the last one out. Champ is digging through her purse and something inside of her snaps. She lurches forward for her purse. Meanwhile, Wynonna slaps him in the back of the head.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Waverly asks, clearly annoyed.</p>
<p>“Dude,” Wynonna says, “Never, ever, ever go into a woman’s purse. That’s the no fly zone.”</p>
<p>“I was looking for chapstick,” he answers, “Pucker up, babe. We getting some action.”</p>
<p>“Gross,” Wynonna says, visibly shuddering, “Hurry before our driver cancels and I get a shit rating.”</p>
<p>Champ jumps over the back of the couch. Waverly realizes then that even though she hasn’t seen much of her boyfriend, she isn’t getting the sweet and affectionate version of him tonight. She’s getting the douchey version who will most likely be getting drunk and making an ass of himself, and probably her.</p>
<p>Locking the front door, Waverly hears them clamber down the stairs. She takes the moment to dig for her phone in her purse and look at it, checking for any notifications. There’s a missed text from Jeremy telling her great job on her research. She decides to just reply in the car and follows them, much quieter though.</p>
<p>She’s forced into the middle of the back seat with great persuasion when she tries to just sit in the front. Crammed between her sister and her boyfriend, they start bickering the moment their driver pulls away from the curb. Waverly wishes she could claim she has a headache and just go back home already.</p>
<p>As she’s responding to Jeremy’s text, her phone vibrates in her hand. It alerts her in a banner on the top of the screen that Nicole has texted her and she instantly taps on it seeking a reprieve from the discomfort. Nicole’s message is warm and light, making Waverly feel fuzzy. It says that Nicole misses her, but she hopes she’s having a great time with her sister.</p>
<p>“Who you texting?” Champ asks, beginning to hover over her. She’s reactive when she clicks back and exits the text, hitting Jeremy’s name all quick enough that he doesn’t get a chance to read what Nicole sent or even that Nicole had sent her a message. Not that she should be ashamed. They do get to date other people. She just doesn’t want to get into it tonight. “Ew, work. No work tonight.”</p>
<p>“Jeremy’s my friend,” Waverly replies.</p>
<p>“You do your work thing together, baby girl,” Wynonna chimes in, “And I’ve never met the guy. If I’ve never met him then he isn’t your friend.”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Wyn, I have lots of friends you don’t know,” Waverly says. Thinking of Nicole has her stomach in knots that get even tighter when she reminds herself that they aren’t friends. Nicole doesn’t want to be friends. Truthfully, she doesn’t want to be friends with Nicole either. “Lots.”</p>
<p>“Name another one,” Wynonna says.</p>
<p>Nicole’s name is on the tip of her tongue when the driver pulls up to their destination. Champ is laughing while she huffs. Waverly says, “Really, Wynonna? A sleazy knocker locker?”</p>
<p>“Pussy Willows is a classy place,” Wynonna argues. They file out of the car one by one and congregate on the sidewalk. Well, she tries to but both Wynonna and Champ have a pep in their step to get inside. “Come on, baby girl. It’s the place where classy bitches go.”</p>
<p>“Doesn’t look like it,” she mutters as she digs through her purse for her ID.</p>
<p>They flash the bouncer their identification and are immediately granted entry. Stepping inside, the place is a sensory overload. It smells like cigarettes and stale beer, but does have a certain upscale feel to it. They post up at the bar. Champ is incredibly close to her, hands on her in a possessive manner as some of the patrons seem to be staring at them. She wants to shrug him off, tell him not to touch her, but she really knows she needs to let this go. She took him back knowing he had cheated on her.</p>
<p>“Three shots of tequila on him,” Wynonna tells the bartender and gestures at Champ. The bartender with his five o’clock shadow grins as he pours the tequila into 3 glasses. Wynonna immediately takes hers and clinks it against Waverly’s. “Bottoms up.”</p>
<p>Waverly downs it quickly, feeling the sting against the back of her throat as she swallows. Before she knows it, she realizes the drinks have been flowing and all she’s had is a basket of fries. She’s really feeling the alcohol hitting her hard - shots of tequila, vodka, whiskey and rum all flowing through her. As far gone as she feels, Champ and Wynonna seem to be worse off. Mostly because while she’s been chasing her shots with water, they’ve been chasing them with beer.</p>
<p>By this point, Wynonna is flirting with the other bar inhabitants in attempt to score a few free drinks. Champ forgets all about her and is throwing one dollar bills at whoever the pretty lady on stage is. For a moment, Waverly’s cloudy brain trips up on the lack of the woman’s clothing and she finds herself leering at her. Her mind gets lost as she traces the woman’s figure with her eyes, noticing that she doesn’t look entirely different.</p>
<p>Wynonna makes her way back over with a fresh drink in her hand. Leaning heavily against Waverly’s shoulder, Wynonna settles back onto the bar stool beside her. It snaps her attention away from the woman and back to Wynonna.</p>
<p>“Get another,” Wynonna says, tapping her glass against Waverly’s.</p>
<p>Waverly huffs, not too excited about the prospect of drinking anything else. As she glances around the room looking for Champ, she realizes that he’s disappeared. Her mind immediately drifts to Nicole, thinking of her in so many aspects. She thinks of how Nicole has made her feel like she’s the only person in the room, of how Nicole is extremely attractive and all Waverly wants to do is kiss her.</p>
<p>“Have you ever...” Waverly starts but stops quickly.</p>
<p>“Have I ever?” Wynonna baits her to finish her statement.</p>
<p>Waverly stops and swallows. She either doesn’t feel drunk enough or isn’t brave enough to ask Wynonna the questions running through her mind. Has Wynonna ever been attracted to a woman? Will she think less of Waverly for knowing she is?</p>
<p>“Nothing,” Waverly says, waving Wynonna off.</p>
<p>Wynonna downs her drink quickly and flags down the bartender for a refill. Waverly sighs heavily before deciding to dig through her purse for her phone. She pulls it out and starts looking through her texts. Feeling saddened that she really hadn’t received any additional texts from Nicole, she debates heavily on whether or not she should respond. She finally types out that she’s at a bar with Wynonna but adds in a sad looking emoji. It takes a few minutes before her phone lights up in reply from her, giving a sweet wish that she just hopes she stays safe.</p>
<p>Waverly notices that her sister has ditched her now so she decides to be brave, texting to ask if she can come over. Immediately after she hits send she regrets it. Maybe they aren’t at that point where she can basically invite herself over. She wants to unsend the message, but Nicole replies quickly that she would love to see her.</p>
<p>Finding Wynonna, she tells her that she’s going to go ahead and leave. Her sister gives her a confused look but goes back to the fresh drink places in front of her. Looking around for Champ, her search comes up short so she punches in the address Nicole sent into her Uber app and waits just inside the front door.</p>
<p>When her car arrives, she heads outside with a final look around the bar and still only sees Wynonna. She hops in and sits in silence until she gets to Nicole’s apartment building. The moment the Uber leaves Waverly feels idiotic. All she’s been thinking about the last few days is seeing Nicole again but being too afraid to lay it all on the table for Nicole, for herself, for her family, for her friends. It’ll all take a lot of explanation that she doesn’t even know where to start.</p>
<p>She looks up at the building and takes it in. It’s about 5 floors tall with an obvious rooftop set up that is warm and inviting, even from the ground. Waverly almost things it looks like it’s own little community, a great place to live. Despite all of her nerves beginning to fray, Waverly enters the apartment building and carefully climbs the stairs to the third floor. She finds Nicole’s door and knocks, waiting patiently until someone can answer.</p>
<p>The door pulls back quickly, a wide smile on Nicole’s face; she says, “Waves, hi.”</p>
<p>“Nicole,” Waverly replies. Her gaze moves down Nicole’s body, scanning from head to toe. She swoons a little at the sight of Nicole in such comfortable looking attire, a pair of sweatpants and another police department t-shirt. “You look...Wow.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” Nicole says, laughing into the back of her throat, “Come here. I’m so happy to see you.”</p>
<p>Nicole’s pulling her into a hug and placing a sweet kiss against her mouth so casually that Waverly blinks and feels like she misses it. Nicole is warm and easily makes her welcome by inviting her in. She does the normal sorry for the mess spiel and gives Waverly the grand tour. Briefly, Waverly thinks about how this is the first time she’s been over and all she wants to do is explore. Her slightly hazy brain starts making the grounds, looking at Nicole’s decorations and strategically placed pictures.</p>
<p>“How long have you lived here?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>“Couple of months,” Nicole replies. Waverly glances at her and sees her leaning against the doorframe leading into the kitchen, arms crossed in front of her chest and watching Waverly with an amused smile. Turning her attention back to the shelving unit in front of her, she sees a picture of Nicole in her place uniform. A lump catches in her throat at how sexy Nicole looks. “Is everything alright?”</p>
<p>“It’s fine,” Waverly replies. She steps towards Nicole and runs into something. Nicole steps forward to catch her, hands pressing against her hips in an attempt to keep her upright. Waverly drops her purse in this process, eyes lifting to Nicole’s. “Ouch.”</p>
<p>“Be careful,” Nicole murmurs. Waverly moves her hands to Nicole’s, not entirely sure what to do. She can feel herself unraveling and feeling exposed. “I’ve missed seeing you.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Waverly says. She chokes on the word and immediately clears her throat. Slowly, she finds courage in pushing her hands up Nicole’s forearms but blushes under her sweet gaze. She manages a shy smile, her nerves beginning to spark. “Me too.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” Nicole says softly, “Is everything ok?”</p>
<p>Waverly pauses as she thinks about Champ showing up at her apartment only to ditch her after they had been at the strip club a bit. She doesn’t feel like this is ok, especially after her and Champ haven’t spent much time together since he asked her for another chance, but she is happy that it gave her a way to break free and see Nicole. Nodding slowly, she presses her palms flat against Nicole’s shoulders and presses up on her toes. She kisses Nicole softly, the sweetness being returned without hesitation.</p>
<p>“Is everything ok with you?” Waverly asks as she lowers her heels back to the ground.</p>
<p>“Everything’s great,” Nicole says. She lifts a hand to tuck Waverly’s hair behind her ear. Waverly shivers at the contact and watches as Nicole tilts her head slightly. “Are you ok?”</p>
<p>“Yes!” Waverly snaps. She sighs, hands sliding down Nicole’s front and coming to stop on her stomach. An uneasy feeling settles into her stomach, but Nicole’s resolve doesn’t falter. “I’m sorry. I just, I’m not really ok and you keep asking me and it’s hard.”</p>
<p>Nicole gently tips her chin up. They make eye contact and it’s intense. She feels like Nicole can see deep into her soul, read all of her thoughts and feelings without her even having to say them. Around Nicole, she feels exposed, like she’s a book and all that Nicole has to do is flip through the pages to see every side of her.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?” Nicole asks.</p>
<p>“I’m just having all of these thoughts and feelings and I got ditched,” Waverly runs all of her words together before sighing, her shoulders slumping, “And now I’m here. I’m exhausted.”</p>
<p>“Oh, it’s ok, baby,” Nicole hums, voice barely audible. Waverly stiffens for a moment. Her brain doesn’t know how to react to someone being so sweet to her, especially when Nicole doesn’t seem to expect anything in return. The feeling of Nicole pulling her around to the couch breaks her out of her reverie. “You can talk to me. Let me help you sort these thoughts out.”</p>
<p>Waverly sighs as Nicole sits down on the couch, leg tucked beneath her. She hasn’t let go of Waverly’s hand, and Waverly follows her lead. They’re knees touch as Waverly angles her body to face Nicole, taking in the concerned look on her face.</p>
<p>“I don’t even know where to start,” Waverly says with a sigh.</p>
<p>“Well,” Nicole starts, lifting a hand and placing it on Waverly’s elbow, “What’s eating at you? Start there.”</p>
<p>“Just,” Waverly starts. She pauses and lets herself get lost on the feeling as Nicole’s hand presses against her arm. She lets her gaze trail to Nicole’s hand, wondering if she’s doing this right. Maybe she’s doing it wrong. She’s never been very good at sending the right signals. “My feelings are, well, they’re a lot.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” Nicole says softly, thumb smoothing over her skin, “I know we’ve only been out a few times, but you can talk to me. Trusting someone else is hard, but you can trust me.”</p>
<p>Nicole’s hand is warm on Waverly’s skin as it wraps around her forearm and it distracts her from her own thoughts. Her brain short circuits. Her worry has been eating at her - worry that the people she loves won’t love her anymore, worry that she will lose something comfortable by risking it all. As much as she wants to trust Nicole and those warm, brown eyes, something is holding her back. Fear really is the ugliest bitch.</p>
<p>Waverly sighs and almost all of the walls break down, tears flooding her vision. She pulls her hand toward her body until Nicole’s fingers brush over her wrist and she turns her hand over so their palms press together. Blinking to clear her vision, she says, “Is this normal, this feeling like everyone I love will stop loving me? I mean, they are all open hearted and loving people and yet I feel like this one thing about me changes everything.”</p>
<p>“I think that’s a pretty normal feeling, yeah,” Nicole confirms, “And things do change. Not all of it is bad though.”</p>
<p>“What happened with you?” Waverly asks, curiosity peaking.</p>
<p>“Well, I had just broken up with my boyfriend when I told my parents and they were pretty cool with it. They were hippies so I really knew what to expect with them. It was my friends I had more difficulty with,” Nicole admits. She offers Waverly a comforting smile, one that makes her feel a little bit like Nicole is trying to ease her into it. “But it got better.”</p>
<p>Waverly furrows her brows, skin between her eyes creasing with confusion.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to lie to you, Waverly,” Nicole murmurs. This time, she drops her gaze like she can’t maintain eye contact with Waverly. It stills the breath in her lungs, like Nicole is about to tell her that her world came crashing down. Nicole expels a deep breath and says, “It was a different time. I was in high school. It was a small town. I didn’t get extradited or anything. I just became the straight girl experiment and the butt of the joke. That isn’t going to happen to you. I promise.”</p>
<p>“But how can you promise that?” Waverly says, her walls beginning to build back up.</p>
<p>“It’s a big risk,” Nicole says, “I understand if you’re just not ready.”</p>
<p>“Nicole,” Waverly hums, tears falling at the realization that this sounds like she’s too scared to do this. Maybe she is. Maybe it can’t mean as much to her as she knows it will mean if she just gives it a chance. “I didn’t mean-“</p>
<p>“I know,” Nicole interrupts reassuringly, “I get that this is a big thing, but I like you a lot, and I don’t want to be just friends. I’m sorry. If you need some time to think on it, I get it. It’s ok.”</p>
<p>Waverly sits in shock while she tries to regain her composure and fails greatly. Shaking her head, she absently wipes at the loose tears. She mutters, “May I use your restroom?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Nicole says softly.</p>
<p>She stands from the couch and shows Waverly to the bathroom. Once inside, Waverly sits down on the side of the tub and let’s her tears flow freely. A sob jumps out of her and they just start tumbling out of her. A few minutes pass and the door opens. She can’t see her through the tears, but she feels Nicole settle onto the side of the tub beside her. Nicole immediately pulls her into her arms and hold her against her chest, letting her cry until Waverly gains control of her breathing.</p>
<p>“It’s ok,” Nicole murmurs, “I’ve got you.”</p>
<p>“You’re being so sweet,” Waverly says, throat raw from the sobs that escaped, “I don’t deserve it.”</p>
<p>“You’re allowed to have feelings, Waverly,” Nicole replies, “Sometimes they don’t always match up with the way someone else feels, but that doesn’t make them any less important.”</p>
<p>“Why are you being so nice to me?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>“Because I had to go through all of these feelings alone and I know it isn’t easy,” Nicole says, “You aren’t obligated to be with me just because I like you. What’s important here is how you feel about me. Absolutely no pressure, ok?”</p>
<p>“No, I do like you. That’s the problem. I’m scared,” Waverly says. Her emotions are erupting inside of her like a volcano, bubbling to the surface and beginning to spill out. Her secrets plan to replace her tears and, at the end of it all, everything is going to change one way or the other. She pushes herself to her feet and looks down at Nicole, saying, “You’re so easy to talk to and it’s like you get me to talk about things so easily, and that’s scary. No one has ever really put me in a position where I feel like I can say however I’m feeling and it won’t be held against me. Champ has never done that, not once, but I know what to expect from him. What if I’m just disappointing to you? God, I’m so inexperienced I-“</p>
<p>“I highly doubt you could be disappointing to myself or anyone else,” Nicole says, interrupting her tirade, “You can go as slow or as fast as you want to, ok? This is at your pace.”</p>
<p>Waverly leans down and reaches for Nicole’s hand. She doesn’t say the words on the tip of her tongue; she thinks she could really fall in love with Nicole. She offers Nicole a smile before she says, “You’re really amazing.”</p>
<p>She watches as Nicole stands slowly and lays a kiss against her lips, somehow managing to take her off guard. The kiss is quick, comforting, a promise against Waverly’s lips that makes her chase Nicole’s kiss. The warmth and comfort of the kiss lingers on her mouth. It’s crazy to her how 15 minutes with Nicole can make her feel better than 3 hours with Champ.</p>
<p>“This is all very new,” Waverly says, “But I’m not scared because of who you are. I always kind of suspected although I didn’t have much opportunity to really figure myself out. I think I really want to be someone to you, Nicole. If you’re willing to be patient with me, that is.”</p>
<p>“My middle name is Patience,” Nicole quickly replies. She grins but lightly shakes her head. Waverly stares at the adorable nature of her comforting, easy to read facial expressions. “Actually, it isn’t but you get my point.”</p>
<p>They make their way out of the bathroom and back to the living room. Nicole offers to make her a tea and she quickly accepts. While the tea whistles in the other room, Waverly checks her phone for the time. She has a few missed notifications, all from Jeremy and Wynonna. Her heart sinks a little at the realization that Champ either hasn’t noticed or doesn’t care that she’s gone. She begins making a mental pros and cons list about him, wondering why she’s even hanging on to him at all. Of course he’s a decent pick for someone back home, but she has plenty other options on the city. Especially with this brand new self-discovery. She makes a decision, she’s going to break up with him once and for all.</p>
<p>Nicole returns with a steaming mug and hands it to Waverly gently. She blows on it but doesn’t dare take a sip. She sets it down before taking a drink, something that she’s pretty sure Nicole notices, and leans back into the sofa.</p>
<p>“Are you feeling better?” Nicole asks, setting her own mug down on the coffee table.</p>
<p>“I’m feeling confused,” Waverly admits. Her gaze falters, no longer able to maintain eye contact with Nicole. She sighs and starts pulling at lint on her skirt, but she’s fairly certain it’s all in her head. “I’m not very good at this.”</p>
<p>“I think you’re better than you think you are,” Nicole replies. Waverly feels a weight press against her hand, fingers sliding over it before pressing into her palm. This draws her attention up and she looks at Nicole again, her insides twisting when they lock eyes. “We don’t have to do this. You can go back to your life and I can go back to mine.”</p>
<p>“Is that what you want?” Waverly asks, slightly scared and slightly offended.</p>
<p>“No,” Nicole says with a light shake of head. Waverly stares at her, trying to comprehend that Nicole is moving at a glacier speed as she closes the distance between them. Feeling her heart stop beating in her chest and squeeze tightly, Waverly feels a weight press against her and a warmth skate across her face. “That isn’t what I want at all.”</p>
<p>Nicole kisses her shortly after and Waverly responds kindly. They make out for a little while, until Waverly can’t stifle a yawn. Nicole laughs gently, teasing her about staying over. Waverly tries to say no, but her body betrays her with its exhaustion. There’s a good amount of time where they argue in all of their good nature about someone taking the bed and someone taking the couch. In the end, Waverly doesn’t have the heart to take Nicole’s bed and manages to convince her to climb in with her.</p>
<p>Falling asleep is easier than she thought it would be and Waverly quickly realizes that she is easily comfortable with Nicole. When she wakes up the next morning with the urge to pee, she manages to tamp it down so she can soak up Nicole’s warm embrace. The sunlight is streaming in and the way it highlights the other woman’s features makes a lump gather in her throat. She begrudgingly gets out of the bed to sneak into the bathroom.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Try, Try Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Waverly has a few surprises coming her way.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waverly gives Champ 2 weeks to prove his worth to her, a test that he is not privy to. It is most likely a bad plan but she had ultimately concocted it after her brunch with Jeremy and she had come back home to Champ being an absolute pig in her living room. He had ordered pizza and set up camp, watching sports all day and hogging her television. She holed herself in her bedroom doing research, both work related and not work related.</p><p>Right around the time Waverly was getting ready to go to bed, he dipped out for what was most likely a booty call. The benefits of their relationship, in her opinion, are gone. She had once given him a place to stay on the weekends while he brought her a little slice of home. She’s been realizing slowly but surely that Purgatory just isn’t her home anymore. And neither is Champ; however, she’s too scared to just end it after putting in 4 years of effort.</p><p>So her plan consists on dinner with Champ Monday night after work. She doesn’t pick anywhere that requires a thick wallet to order food, but she does pick something that at least has something on the menu she can order. They agree to meet at the restaurant around 7, but Champ is of course half an hour late. She doesn’t call attention to it, just makes a mental note.</p><p>The conversation is dull. She tells him about her research at work and he pulls a face quite often as she does so. When he has something to say, it’s about sports which is something she can at least take interest in due to her ability for extensive research. He barely tells her about the happenings in his life but is fairly engrossed in his phone at any given moment. She suspects he’s texting some girl, so after the server picks up their plates she texts her own girl. Nicole starts her shift in less than 5 minutes so they don’t have much time to exchange messages.</p><p>When Nicole bids her good night with a kiss emoji, Waverly’s heart aches. She’s only saddened further when she looks at Champ and he’s grinning down at his phone with that lustful look in his eyes. Not that she particularly wants anything from him other than his attention, but she can’t even get that. They go their separate ways after dinner, and she almost feels a sense of relief that she can just climb into bed when she gets home.</p><p>She wakes the next day very early but her bathroom is occupied when she tries to enter. The door is locked so she knocks lightly, but there isn’t a response. She jiggles the handle and knocks against, but still nothing. Her routine is an art and the longer she has to wait to enter, the further behind it sets her, so she bangs on the door yelling her sister’s name.</p><p>It takes a few minutes, but her undoubtedly over-served sister files out of the bathroom and climbs into her bed. Waverly is huffing in annoyance as Wynonna flips her off. It’s been like this the past few days between them, not seeing eye to eye and bickering non-stop. Waverly has been dealing with these feelings she’s been trying to let out, but Wynonna has been increasingly difficult so she can’t even begin to get there.</p><p>By the time she’s leaving for work, Wynonna is burrito’d in her bed with the blankets and snoring. The normal journey to work is as boring as always, but right as she’s entering the building she receives a lovely good morning text from Nicole. Her spirits brighten and her shitty morning is forgotten. By the time she’s sitting down at her desk, her chipper demeanor has returned.</p><p>The work day passes by quickly. She exchanges a few texts with Nicole before Nicole goes to bed, day 2 of her 15 day over night shifts behind her. Their messages are filled with casual comfort and kindness that sticks with her throughout the day. Jeremy is considerate enough not to call attention to it because she’s sure she’s being obvious.</p><p>Her days pretty much resemble this same routine - Wynonna trying to keep her up too late and going out to drink when Waverly insists she has to go to bed, going to work, coming home and repeating. Occasionally she tries to get Champ to go to dinner, but he always has plans with his buddies. The more this goes on, the more detached she becomes from him. Especially when the busy Nicole has time to at least text with her.</p><p>Come Friday morning, however, she receives a rather interesting text. She feels sheepish because she’s been clocked in at work for all of 20 minutes when Nicole asks which building she works in. She wants to swing by to see Waverly and bring a coffee. Waverly doesn’t have the heart to tell Nicole that she already has a coffee, but when she tells Jeremy she’s taking a quick break with her biggest eyes he doesn’t protest.</p><p>Grabbing her badge and her phone, she heads downstairs. When she exits the building, she sees a police car parked in the no parking zone and a perfectly done up police uniform clad Nicole leaning against the hood. Waverly smiles when she sees her, a blush creeping up her neck at how attractive that uniform is on Nicole.</p><p>“Hey,” Nicole greets softly, “Now, I can’t kiss you in uniform but I did come bearing gifts.”</p><p>Waverly pouts instantly. She’s missed the contact with anyone, but even more so with Nicole. She hasn’t seen Nicole since Saturday morning when she left Nicole’s apartment. It’s been nearly an entire week and, although Nicole is clearly still interested, her certainty in herself is waning with the lack of affection. It’s difficult being an affectionate person and keeping it all tucked away.</p><p>“Can I at least get a hug?” Waverly asks. Her embarrassment deepens at the question. Over the years, she has done her best to not be a clingy girlfriend. Look at where that’s gotten her. “It’s ok if-“</p><p>“You can have all the hugs you want,” Nicole interrupts. A breath of relief escapes her as Nicole pushes off of the car with arms wide open. Waverly steps into her warm embrace, sliding her arms around Nicole’s waist and holding her tightly. “Is everything ok?”</p><p>Waverly inhales deeply. The smell of Nicole’s perfume is beginning to fade, most likely after having been pressed against her skin for a full 10 hour shift, but she still smells the slightest hint of vanilla. It contorts around her and everything else fades away, including the sound of the people who work in her building entering.</p><p>“It’s fine,” Waverly says. She thinks it could be better. She could stop torturing herself with worry over what everyone else might think about her dating a woman, mostly Wynonna. She knows that breaking up with Champ will come with questions back home, when she goes to visit Gus and he isn’t by her side. Even worse if she ever takes a woman home. Small towns have a certain thing about them, but Nicole seems to know all about that. “Just a long week.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Nicole hums, standing taller and pressing a kiss to Waverly’s forehead, “I agree.”</p><p>They seem to make a mutual decision to slip from the hug and pull back. They are still standing close together and Nicole balances herself against the car as she turns to grab the coffee off of the hood. She smiles softly, eyes warm as she extends the coffee and a paper bag her way.</p><p>“What’s this?” Waverly asks, taking both items from her.</p><p>“Coffee and a vegan donut,” Nicole replies, “Your brain needs some energy food so I also brought you one of those almond bar things for when it wants to give up.”</p><p>“Nicole,” Waverly coos, “That’s so sweet.”</p><p>“Well, Fridays are hard. You spend all day thinking about the weekend and that researcher brain of yours never takes a break anyway,” Nicole says with a smile. Tears spring to Waverly’s eyes because she hasn’t had anyone be so thoughtful before. What’s next? Her body racks with nerves at the anxiety of that thought. “Just thought I would offer it a boost.”</p><p>“That’s so thoughtful,” Waverly says, a tear sliding down her cheek.</p><p>“Oh,” Nicole says gently, moving forward again and placing both hands on Waverly’s cheeks to wipe the tears away, “I’m just trying to woo the girl I like.”</p><p>“Well, it’s working,” Waverly sighs deeply. She leans into Nicole’s touch and lets the gentle way Nicole makes her feel comfortable soak into her skin. She wishes she could kiss Nicole right now to let her know that it is definitely working. “I wish I could...kiss you.”</p><p>“Awe,” Nicole says, smile wide as she bends at the knees to look Waverly directly in the eye, “Well, maybe one won’t hurt.”</p><p>“Really?” Waverly says.</p><p>“Yeah,” Nicole says softly. Waverly leans in closely, almost entirely forgetting that they are standing just outside of her office building. When their lips touch, it’s soft and sweet but over all too quickly. Nicole huffs and says, “Ok, I better get the cruiser back to the station, but can I see you again later? Maybe an early dinner?”</p><p>“Don’t you work tonight?” Waverly asks.</p><p>“Well,” Nicole says, standing up straight and grinning, “Some girls are worth being a little tired for.”</p><p>“You’re making me blush,” Waverly hums. Her phone dings in her pocket and it reminds her that she needs to get back to work. She sighs, a little annoyed, but quickly covers it with a smile. “Text me later.”</p><p>Nicole nods and makes her way over to the driver side of her cruiser. Waverly watches her drive away before returning upstairs. When she sits at her desk, Jeremy is looking at her expectantly like he wants her to spill the tea. She divulges a little bit of information, but she’s still trying to wrap her head around everything so she doesn’t say too much on the matter.</p><p>Her Friday drags on longer than normal. Most likely because now she has something to look forward to for her evening when she didn’t before. Typically, any plans made with Champ for a Friday night either falls through, is unexpected, or turns into a disaster. One thing Waverly feels confident about is that the plans will pan out.</p><p>When she gets home, she has an hour to get ready and get to the restaurant. Wynonna is at her apartment, revved up and being more annoying than usual. Telling her that she has an early date almost makes Wynonna start asking questions but she’s distracted by a consistent ding on her phone. Thankfully this allows Waverly to catch up on her lost time so she can arrive at the restaurant down the street from Nicole’s just in time.</p><p>Nicole looks a little more rested than when Waverly saw her this morning but she lights up from her spot outside of the restaurant upon seeing her. The smile is infectious and has Waverly smiling too. Nicole stands from the bench to meet her, inviting embrace poised and ready.</p><p>“Hey,” Nicole hums, pulling her into an easy hug, “You look beautiful.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Waverly says softly as she pulls back. Her eyes give Nicole a once over and she surmises the same sentiment. A hand stays on the small of her back before giving a soothing stroke along her spine, encouraging her in the direction of the door. “You look beautiful, too.”</p><p>They head into the restaurant, a little cafe that buzzes with patrons but isn’t really all that busy. They are seated immediately and they quickly fall into a conversation that distracts them from looking at the menu. When the waitress comes up to find out if they’re ready to order, they both laugh embarrassed.</p><p>“God,” Waverly says once the waitress is out of sight, “We really need to order. I don’t want you to be late.”</p><p>“Hey,” Nicole says reassuringly, “I don’t mind. It’s ok if we lose track of time a little bit.”</p><p>“Nicole,” Waverly says, the disbelief filtering in, “I just...”</p><p>“There’s plenty of time between now and when I have to go to work,” Nicole replies.</p><p>They chat casually about everything. Nicole tells her a little bit about her ex-wife, Shae, a doctor at the hospital. They talk about things that they enjoy, that make them happy, and it makes Waverly realize she just doesn’t get to feel the joy all that often. Or at least, she hadn’t. Nicole has helped bring the joy back a little.</p><p>After dinner, the sun is beginning to fade into the horizon. It isn’t dark, by any means, but it is darker than before their meal began. Nicole invites her back to her apartment and on the short trek over, she reaches for Waverly’s hand. She doesn’t shy away, which kind of shocks Waverly a little. Even though she should be feeling quite proud of herself for the strides she’s made on this Friday with her public displays of affection.</p><p>They get to Nicole’s apartment and settle quickly onto the couch in a position that allows them to comfortably make out. It’s very different from anything that Waverly has experienced. Nicole’s lips are soft and warm, her tongue a comforting and welcome fixture. Waverly is of course a little nervous, afraid she’s going to do something that disappoints Nicole, but when Nicole pulls back after a few minutes she’s smiling.</p><p>“Oh man,” Nicole says, “You’re even good at that. Is there anything you aren’t good at, Waverly Earp?”</p><p>“Really?” Waverly asks.</p><p>“Yeah,” Nicole says with a smile. Waverly watches her head tilt; her eyes blink slowly as she subtly looks around the room. The sun has set entirely now and the realization prompts a huge sigh. “I should really get ready for work.”</p><p>“Oh,” Waverly says, unable to stop a pout from forming. She hasn’t realized how late it was but she had been enjoying herself, letting herself get lost in someone else. “Yeah, you should.”</p><p>“You don’t have to leave,” Nicole says quickly, “You could hang out. If you want to.”</p><p>Waverly’s mind is briefly occupied with the idea that she’ll get to see Nicole in her uniform again. She had never considered herself a person who thought a good uniform was attractive, yet seeing Nicole in hers was something really special. There are a lot of things about Nicole that have been special, not to mention different.</p><p>“Oh, I, um,” Waverly starts, taking a look around the apartment. Nicole is sitting back on her heels, leaning heavily against the back of the couch. She smiles and reaches out to Waverly’s arm with her free hand.</p><p>“I really do have to get ready,” Nicole says, “It’ll only take me a few minutes.”</p><p>Waverly nods and Nicole is leaning forward to place a gentle kiss against her mouth. With that, Nicole heads off towards her bedroom. Waverly can hear Nicole moving around while she changes and it makes her laugh at how crazy she feels. She can’t remember when she felt this way about Champ, like she doesn’t want to say goodbye any sooner than she has to. Maybe she never felt that way about him, just felt like she should or else he would find someone else.</p><p>“Hey,” Nicole calls before she comes into sight. Waverly gulps at the sight of her, the uniform pants accentuating her curves as she carries her government issued boots over to the couch beside where she sits. Nicole takes a seat and smiles over at Waverly. “I’m supposed meet up with some friends after work for breakfast. Would you like to come?”</p><p>Waverly is feeling bold, like she can feel confident and sure in whatever feelings she has for Nicole. She thinks she is finally starting to figure it out. She needs to find time to talk to Wynonna, but it seems as though their paths are hardly crossing these days. Since they went to Pussy Willows, she doesn’t think she’s been in the same room with Wynonna unless she was getting out of bed and her older sister was crawling into it.</p><p>“Are you inviting me to meet your friends?” Waverly asks, voice slightly teasing.</p><p>“Yes,” Nicole says, back straightening while she casts Waverly a smile, “I definitely am.”</p><p>“Well,” Waverly draws out. Nicole bends over to pull her boots on and tie the laces. The job is done quickly and she’s leaning back against the couch before Waverly has even gone down her list of things to do tomorrow. “What are they like?”</p><p>“They’ll like you,” Nicole insists. Lifting an arm, she drapes it along the back of the couch and pulls Waverly into her side. She places a light kiss against Nicole’s jaw near to her throat. “Mm, is that a yes?”</p><p>“What have you told them about me?” Waverly wonders aloud.</p><p>“Only good things,” Nicole reassures. She laughs gently as she reaches around to tilt Waverly’s chin up. She kisses her lightly and Waverly instinctively feels herself trying to deepen it. Their lips are locked for just a few minutes before Nicole pulls back, resting her forehead against Waverly’s. “I’ll swing by to get you in the morning. How does that sound?”</p><p>“Mmhmm,” Waverly absently agrees.</p><p>“I have to get going now,” Nicole says.</p><p>They say goodbye at the door with a kiss but when they reach outside of the building, Nicole has a difficult time letting go of Waverly’s hand. Waverly giggles softly and this action really reinforces her feelings of meeting Nicole’s friends in the morning. Part of her is ready to just spend all of the time she can get with Nicole. Nicole is really good at making her feel wanted.</p><p>When she gets home, Waverly shoots Nicole off a text that she arrived safely. It’s right before Nicole goes on shift so she gets a quick reply. She’s smiling when Wynonna charges into her apartment and it nearly flips her anxiety into over drive.</p><p>Wynonna has amped up her level of annoyance for the evening, drinking the rest of the alcohol in Waverly’s apartment and monopolizing any chatter space available. For a while, it allots Waverly an opportunity to ignore her nerves about meeting Nicole’s friends. Not to mention gives her an excuse as to why she hasn’t told Wynonna about Nicole. She can’t get a word in. And yet, when she crawls into bed later than she wants to, she feels guilty for continuing on with this secret.</p><p>Waverly awakens the next day extremely early for a day off. Wynonna is snoring loudly from her position passed out on the couch. She has a few missed text messages - 1 from Champ, 2 from Nicole. Champ had texted her around 3am with a “U up?” Nicole, on the other hand, had sent a few on her lunch expressing her excitement about breakfast. Waverly fires off a quick text to her in reply before getting ready.</p><p>She picks something cute and maybe a little too warm, but she knows she gets cold easily. It’s always colder in the morning so she knows that the floral kimono will serve its purpose. She does her hair in waves and is finished getting dressed just in time for Nicole’s text that she’s headed over. By this time, Wynonna has retired to her bed and is snoring while hogging the blankets.</p><p>A soft knock on the door grabs her attention. It’s barely loud enough to be heard through her sister’s snoring so she knows she will have very little explaining to do, it any at all. There’s a strong likelihood that Wynonna will still be passed out when she returns.</p><p>She answers the door with a nervous smile, one that only get amplified as Nicole bounces on her heels. Nicole says, “Hey. Good morning.”</p><p>“Hey,” she replies. Her eyes trail down the length of Nicole who has already changed out of her uniform and into something a bit more comfortable. She isn’t dressed too fancy. In fact, it’s quite similar to what Waverly is wearing. “You look nice.”</p><p>“You too,” Nicole replies. She grins softly as she steps into Waverly’s space and gives her a gentle kiss. Waverly leans into it, her hands reaching for the front of Nicole’s shirt. The kiss is a little deeper than she expects, but she attributes it to her clinging to the front of Nicole’s shirt. When they pull apart, she spots her nosy neighbor looking from her doorway at them. “Did you sleep well?”</p><p>“My sister got drunk and passed out. She always snores really loud when she drinks too much,” Waverly answers with a shrug. She leaves out the part that her nerves kept her up a little bit. She doesn’t know the first thing about Nicole’s friends. What if they don’t like her?</p><p>“How long is she staying?” Nicole asks as Waverly turns to look her door.</p><p>Waverly sighs at that. She doesn’t have the first clue what Wynonna is up to. Every time she’s prepared to have the conversation Wynonna is either asleep, drunk, or on her way out the front door so fast that Waverly has whiplash.</p><p>She shakes her head lightly as they make their way outside and says, “I don’t have any idea. She’s a bit of a nomad.”</p><p>“Sounds dangerous,” Nicole replies.</p><p>“I’m honestly surprised I haven’t received any phone calls to pick her up from the station,” Waverly half jokes, but the smile fades quickly, “So, it’s already an improvement over last time.”</p><p>“Yay,” Nicole says, lifting her hands in a fake cheer. She hails a cab that immediately pulls up to the curb. Nicole lets Waverly climb in first before getting in behind her, telling the driver where to head. Once they are settled, she feels Nicole lightly press a shoulder against hers. “So, don’t be alarmed if they try to razz you. They can be a little hardcore, especially since Shae.”</p><p>“Meet a lot of girls you like?” Waverly inquires, nerves fraying quickly.</p><p>“Not in the slightest,” Nicole replies, “They’ve just asked me a lot of questions about you. I don’t really get why they’re worried. Shae and I didn’t even end badly. It just ended. That happens sometimes. Just prepare yourself for an odd question here and there.”</p><p>“Are you sure about this?” Waverly asks.</p><p>“Oh yeah,” Nicole quickly answers, “You’re quite impressive, you know?”</p><p>“I am?”</p><p>“You’re sexy, smart and nice,” Nicole says, wrapping a hand around Waverly’s, “That’s kind of the whole package. Totally helps that you seem to be into me.”</p><p>Waverly swallows thickly, suddenly scared out of her mind. Are they at the place they should be meeting each other’s friends? Yeah, she likes Nicole a lot but she’s only just now figuring out that side of herself. She doesn’t know if this attraction to Nicole is a one off or if there’s more to it, and she certainly doesn’t know the extent of what she can handle in regards to what comes with dating Nicole.</p><p>“You have nothing to worry about,” Nicole mutters softly into her ear.</p><p>She feels Nicole squeeze her hand and it prompts her to turn her head to look at Nicole fully. Taking in the contours of Nicole’s face, she’s overwhelmed with the urge to kiss her in an attempt to ground herself. Waverly leans in, her lips meeting Nicole’s softly until she nips at the corner of her mouth. They kiss carelessly until the car comes to a stop, a red light forcing the vehicle to jolt. Waverly smiles then, feeling grounded by Nicole’s touch and kiss. It’s making her crazy thinking that someone has such a close hand in making her feel better.</p><p>Waverly decides to admit aloud to herself and Nicole exactly what she’s feeling. With a shy demeanor taking over her entire body, she looks away. She says, “I’m pretty into you, yeah.”</p><p>A sense of security washes over Nicole’s features when their gazes meet and it really makes Waverly giggle. Waverly really hadn’t considered that someone who appeared to be as confident as Nicole could feel insecure about something. She’s overwhelmed with questions they don’t have time to get into now, but she makes a mental note to maybe delve a little further later.</p><p>“So the wooing is working?” Nicole asks.</p><p>“A smidge,” Waverly confirms with a small space between her thumb and pointer finger. Nicole grins, her dimples on display and making Waverly swoon a bit. She really has a thing for dimples, it seems. “What’s next on your to-woo list?”</p><p>“Ha,” Nicole laughs loudly, “You’ll have to wait and see.”</p><p>The cab pulls up to a restaurant and Nicole pays the driver before getting out. They make their way inside, Waverly just a step behind Nicole as she grasps tightly onto the back of her shirt. Her nerves are making her stomach twist and turn, throat tightening as Nicole seems to pick up on it and reaches back for Waverly’s hand.</p><p>“It’ll be ok,” Nicole reassures, tugging gently on Waverly’s hand, “You’re amazing. They’ll see it too.”</p><p>Waverly nods and is quickly led further into the restaurant, to a table where two beautiful women sit. They are laughing and fixing at each other’s hair - one has blonde and the other has black hair. They quickly nudge at each other when they spot Nicole and straighten up. Waverly feels her anxiety gather in her fingertips under their poignant gaze. She’s never had to meet someone’s friends before. Everyone of Champ’s friends she’s just always known.</p><p>“Hey guys,” Nicole greets, “This is Waverly.”</p><p>Waverly feels Nicole release her hand and wrap it around to her hip, gesturing for her to take a seat. Feeling her palms start sweating, Waverly shrinks into herself and sits in the chair on the inside nearest the wall. Nicole sits close to her in the chair beside her, easily draping an arm along the back of Waverly’s chair.</p><p>“Waves, this is Rosita and Eliza,” Nicole gestures to each one with their respective name.</p><p>They get through their handshakes and customary greetings. Waverly does her best not to tense up when they refer to her as Nicole’s girlfriend to which Nicole replies that isn’t exactly a conversation that they’ve had yet but thanks for making things awkward. Even then, Nicole touches her leg under the table and grounds her to the moment, not letting her getting too far out of her comfort zone.</p><p>Throughout the course of breakfast, she learns a few things about the friends. Rosita works at Nicole’s precinct and is in forensics. Eliza is her friend from the academy and works at a different precinct. Rosita and Eliza are not together, not even in the slightest and they have never even thought about going there. Lastly, she hears a few valiant stories regarding Nicole’s small victories over her short time as a police officer.</p><p>When she orders something vegan, no one teases her like has been the case on the rare occasion that she goes to a restaurant with Champ and his friends. They ask her questions that aren’t too scary, but still give off the ‘what are the intentions with my friend’ vibe she’s expecting. But, overall, they all laugh, Nicole is the right amount of affectionate and warm, and they genuinely have a good time.</p><p>Once the bill has been paid, Nicole insisting she pay for Waverly, they all make their way outside to say their goodbyes. Nicole gives them both friendly hugs. Rosita gives Waverly a hug but Eliza sticks with a more reserved handshake. Just like that, they are alone again.</p><p>“Do you want to go for a walk?” Nicole asks.</p><p>“Aren’t you tired?” Waverly says.</p><p>She watches as Nicole shrugs noncommittal and grabs Waverly’s hand. She can appreciate the way that Nicole just goes for what she wants. Thinking about it, she feels that she needs that little bit of certainty in her life.</p><p>“Let’s take a walk,” Nicole says without wiggle room, “I’ve always wanted to take in the sights with a beautiful girl.”</p><p>Waverly gapes for a moment at the insinuation that Nicole has never taken in the sights with a beautiful woman before. She was married, for Christ’s sake. Surely they did things like this together.</p><p>“Nicole,” Waverly says, voice more of a hum than anything else.</p><p>“What?” She asks, grinning, “You tired of me already?”</p><p>“That isn’t...” Waverly trails off, voice catching in her throat.</p><p>“I’m having a really great time,” Nicole says, “I just don’t want it to end.”</p><p>“Me neither,” Waverly admits.</p><p>They make their way to the park nearby. It’s packed with people having an early morning yoga class. Waverly asks Nicole if she’s ever tried it and she says she’s willing if Waverly wants to. She catches Nicole watching her with adoration in her eyes every time she’s excited about something that looks neat. Nicole even holds her hand as she walks along the edge of the fountain only to catch her when she jumps. It’s like a scene out of a movie and has Waverly falling harder for her. It all feels so right and yet so wrong.</p><p>All the while, they chat about mindless things. They even delve a little bit into Waverly’s love for history. Nicole doesn’t hesitate to ask her to the history museum the following weekend. The plans feel pretty solid and only continue to branch out into other things that could possibly do together over time. The conversation flows easily until Nicole stifles a yawn and they both note that the time is nearing noon.</p><p>“You’re going to turn into a pumpkin,” Waverly murmurs.</p><p>“You might be right,” Nicole absently agrees, “I should probably really head home and climb into bed. I would invite you, but I feel like you would serve as a major distraction from sleep that I really can’t afford.”</p><p>Waverly fights a pout by gracing Nicole with a smile. She says, “Duty calls.”</p><p>“Hey,” Nicole says softly, pulling her out of her sadness for a moment, “I’m gonna kiss you. Is that ok?”</p><p>“Of course, silly,” Waverly answers.</p><p>Nicole steps into her space and tilts Waverly’s head up for a kiss. When their lips meet it’s just as magical as it’s always been and even perhaps causes something to stir in the pit of Waverly’s stomach. She just might be falling in love. Man, she still has some shit to work out.</p><p>“So,” Nicole says, breathless, “Is it official? Can I tell people you’re my girlfriend?”</p><p>The question really takes her off guard and causes all of the nerves she’s pushed aside for most of the morning to come rushing back. The feeling in the pit of her stomach swirls and nips at her lungs, making her brain fog up as she tries to think of an answer. Nicole is staring at her and she feels like she has too much baggage to answer right now, at this time.</p><p>“I just,” Waverly starts and steps back, putting a bit of space between them, “I need a little more time. Please.”</p><p>“That’s fine,” Nicole says with a very warm smile. Her hands linger on Waverly’s arms for a moment and she feels Nicole’s gaze flit over her. She pulls Waverly into a hug and presses a kiss to her temple. “You take all of the time you need, ok?”</p><p>Their day together comes to a close. Nicole hails her a cab and sends her on her way. When she gets home, all she can think about is all of her loose ends she needs to tie up.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Crying</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Waverly makes the wrong choice.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The weekend begins her research of self-discovery. She googles about her star sign, discovers her moon. She takes the Myers-Briggs Personality test, ventures over to <em>Pottermore</em> for a few hours as a distraction, and even stumbles upon the Kinsey Scale Test. Finding a mostly empty notebook, she takes notes. She writes down a list of LGBT films and watches a few on her free Sunday, holed up in her room while Wynonna is off gallivanting around town and Nicole is giving in to her exhaustion.</p>
<p>By the time Monday morning rolls around she has nearly a hundred questions she wants to ask anyone and everyone. She has them all written down in her notebook, curiosity striking her muse until late in the night. It’s stuffed in her work bag, housing all of the questions she has about things she couldn’t get the answer for on the internet.</p>
<p>Throughout the day, she sits at her station and takes her notes in silence. Every now and then she eyes Jeremy, the questions she could ask him swirling around in her head. Instead of asking them, she tucks them away to save for a later time. Especially because when lunch is nearing she gets a text from Nicole. She tells Waverly that she can’t sleep so they exchange messages throughout Waverly’s lunch.</p>
<p>Whenever she gets home from work she cleans her house. Wynonna is nowhere to be seen and Waverly hasn’t heard from her since Saturday. She knows better than to worry about her sister though because Wynonna can take care of herself. It doesn’t stop her from worrying that Wynonna might be getting herself into trouble somewhere.</p>
<p>She does a little more research on a bit more intimate encounters for the evening until Nicole distracts her with a few more texts. It isn’t until Nicole bids her goodnight that she realizes how tired she is. She sends off a few kissing emojis and gets ready for bed.</p>
<p>Around 3am she’s woken up by a loud crash in the living room. Her heart is racing. When she goes to see where the noise has come from she is both relieved and annoyed at her sister.</p>
<p>“Baby girl,” Wynonna says all too loudly, “What are you doing up?”</p>
<p>“You woke me up,” Waverly replies with a huff.</p>
<p>Wynonna shrugs and heads into the kitchen, but Waverly is hot on her heels. Ripping open the refrigerator door, Wynonna immediately digs in. Waverly had Chinese takeout for one for dinner, but there were plenty of leftovers. There isn’t any doubt in her mind that Wynonna is about to dig in.</p>
<p>“Hungry?” Wynonna says, popping the container open.</p>
<p>“No,” Waverly says, face contorting in disgust, “I have to be up in two hours. Wynonna!”</p>
<p>“Whoa, chill,” Wynonna says around the food in her mouth, holding her hands up but keeping the fork pinched in between her fingers, “Go back to bed, grumpy pants.”</p>
<p>Waverly huffs but her mind suddenly starts swirling with all of the information she’s taken in over the last 2 days. Yes, she’s attracted to Nicole and no, Nicole isn’t the first woman she’s been attracted to. It hit her like a slap in the face as she delved further and further.</p>
<p>“Wynonna,” she says shakily, all courage immediately leaving her.</p>
<p>“What?” Wynonna replies, rice falling out of her mouth and landing back in the container.</p>
<p>“Ugh, nothing,” Waverly says, waving her hand in the air. She shakes her head quickly. She hugs herself tightly as she turns on her heel. She gets to the threshold of the kitchen doorway and mutters, “Good night, Wynonna.”</p>
<p>She crawls back into bed and spends at least half an hour scolding herself for chickening out. She could have told her sister everything she’s beginning to accept of herself. She could have said anything that indicates just how much her life has changed just over the course of a few weeks. Instead, she’s left to berate herself when she should be sleeping.</p>
<p>When she does finally peel herself out of bed, she takes her time getting ready. She puts on a skirt that’s maybe a little too short and a white button up shirt that she tucks into the gray waist, making her reflection look like a sexy librarian. She leaves the house with Wynonna sawing logs and shoots off a text to Jeremy saying she’s going to be late. A before going to sleep text from Nicole revealed that she has quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on and that she would be spending the last few hours of her shift doing that, so Waverly swings by the coffee shop for a cup of coffee and heads to the station.</p>
<p>When she arrives, she immediately feels embarrassed. Not only is everyone not in uniform leering at her, but everyone in uniform is most unhelpful. She finally finds a gentleman kind enough to call Nicole’s desk to let her know she has a guest. As Nicole makes her way to the lobby, a cute pensive brow furrowed, Waverly tries a breathing exercise. In through her nose, out through her mouth.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Waverly greets, smile wide. Upon seeing Nicole, she allows herself to feel things that she believes she’s possibly been keeping herself from feeling. Nicole, although looking a tad bit tired, is looking mighty sexy. “Just returning the favor.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Nicole says softly, “Thanks. That really wasn’t necessary.”</p>
<p>She thinks she sees Nicole gulp as her eyes trail down the length of Waverly, but she can’t be too sure. Waverly extends the coffee towards Nicole and sways a little. She says, “I wanted to.”</p>
<p>“Is everything ok?” Nicole asks, suddenly panicked. She steps into Waverly’s space, hand lifting in the air in front of Waverly’s face but hesitating. Finally, she pushes a hair behind Waverly’s ear and lets her fingers trail down the strand. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”</p>
<p>“I just needed to see you,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“Oh, well,” Nicole says. Her shoulders slump a little as she drags a hand through her hair. It’s a movement that Waverly hasn’t seen from Nicole. She can immediately tell something is up. “Now really isn’t a good time. I’m sorry. I’m just on duty and it can get a little, you know, crazy around here. My captain can be...strict.”</p>
<p>“Shoot,” Waverly hisses, “Nicole, I’m so sorry.”</p>
<p>“No, hey,” Nicole says, immediately going into comfort mode and tilting Waverly’s face up so they can connect eyes, “It’s ok. Really. I’m glad I got to see you. I just feel a little bit like a jerk right now that I have to kick you out.”</p>
<p>“I need to get to work anyway,” Waverly says with a dismissive shrug.</p>
<p>“Hey, wait,” Nicole says, reaching out to catch Waverly by the arm, “Come with me really quick.”</p>
<p>She gestures with her head for Waverly to follow. The warm touch of Nicole’s hand leaves Waverly’s arm and it draws her to follow. They make their way down a path and push out of a door that leads to outside, a few police cruisers littered throughout the area. Waverly takes a quick look around the lot and notes that they are alone, save for the brilliant and shiny vehicles.</p>
<p>“I don’t mean to be such a hard ass. I’ve just seen guys get a good reaming around here for unexpected visitors. Not that you wouldn’t be worth it,” Nicole rambles, “Especially because I can’t help feeling like you’re figuring things out and maybe need someone to talk to. There’s just a lot on the line right now and seeing you is a bit distracting to my workflow. Just a few more days and I’m carving out a good amount of time for you. Hang in there.”</p>
<p>“I really should have made sure it was ok before I came by,” Waverly insists.</p>
<p>“No,” Nicole insists. Waverly watches as she lifts her gaze and takes a look around. Nicole turns on her heel to place the cup down on the hood of the nearest cruiser before turning back to face her. “Please, I’m glad I got to see you. You’re a shining light at the end of a long tunnel. Seriously, the days are really starting to drag on. Come here.”</p>
<p>Nicole opens her arms wide for Waverly. She slots herself forward and falls against Nicole, tightly wrapping her arms around Nicole’s waist. The morning breeze laps against her face and arms which only encourages her to burrow deeper into Nicole. They stand like that for nearly a minute until Nicole’s watch beeps.</p>
<p>“Saturday,” Nicole says, “That’s just four more sleeps and then I’m all yours.”</p>
<p>“I like the sound of that,” Waverly murmurs.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” Nicole asks, eyes lighting up.</p>
<p>“Ugh,” Waverly groans and sinks back into Nicole, “You better go.”</p>
<p>“I should,” Nicole agrees, “But one more thing.”</p>
<p>Waverly pulls back to look at Nicole, eye lashes fluttering slow and questioningly.</p>
<p>Nicole smirks and leans down, kissing Waverly firmly until she’s left breathless and, frankly, very turned on. She can’t remember the last time she felt this turned on, maybe if ever. She’s blinking wildly up at Nicole, her heart hammering in her chest.</p>
<p>“Let me walk you out,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>Nicole gives her a sad smile when they part in the lobby, and it sticks with Waverly throughout the day. Jeremy doesn’t question her when she gets to work late about her reason for doing so. Perhaps it’s the sad look on her face that keeps him from prying, not that she would really know exactly what to tell him.</p>
<p>The day drags on and she really feels what Nicole said earlier that morning. The messages she receives from Nicole are overly apologetic but sweet. Waverly guiltily replies and boldly throws out that she’s missing Nicole. They avoid being overtly flirtatious before Nicole announces that she’s about to pass out, but Waverly feels in better spirits overall.</p>
<p>The next day doesn’t fare much better as far as exchanges go, but Nicole continues the countdown. She does get just a tad flirtier during texts but it quickly fades as time passes. Once Nicole stops responding, Waverly sends Champ a text asking him to come over later. She’s finally decided to rip off the band aid.</p>
<p>At lunch, Jeremy abandons the niceties and gets down to business. Looking at her over his salad, his face gives everything away. He says, “Are you ever going to tell me how this is playing out?”</p>
<p>Waverly sighs dramatically, stabbing some greens with her fork. She hasn’t known how to broach the subject with Jeremy, but she’s wanted to talk to him. She says, “I’m breaking up with Champ tonight.”</p>
<p>Jeremy actually squees at the announcement. He says, “Is there more?”</p>
<p>“Well,” Waverly says, deciding that she doesn’t really have any better news, “Nicole asked me to be her girlfriend and I didn’t want to say yes before breaking up with him. And, ideally, I’d like to tell Wynonna. Just every time I try I can’t do it.”</p>
<p>“Step one, break up with Champ,” Jeremy recounts, “Step two, tell Wynonna you like girls.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Waverly says, fighting the shiver that skates down her spine. She hasn’t really said it aloud. Oddly enough, she’s kissed a girl in public before she said aloud she’s attracted to them. But just saying it aloud makes an eerie feeling encircle her. “I like girls.”</p>
<p>“This is exciting,” Jeremy says. He’s practically squirming in his seat. She supposes that he could be feeling a little high on life - a friend to talk boys with while also getting to do all of the LGBT stuff with. She isn’t ready for that though. She just admitted to herself that Nicole isn’t a one off. “So what conclusion did you come to?”</p>
<p>“I’ve been so stupid, Jeremy,” she says all too quickly, “It’s like a whole can of worms. Don’t open it unless you’re ready to get into it.”</p>
<p>“Waverly, I’m your friend,” he says, face aglow with seriousness, “I’m ready to get into it if that’s what you need.”</p>
<p>So Waverly spills all of her feelings onto the table. She tells him about her 7th grade crush on the 8th grade girl she chalked up to admiration because she was so smart and so pretty and Waverly wanted to be just like her. She tells him of all of the times she had wondered what it would be like to kiss her favorite characters on television, only to attribute it to admiration of another woman she wanted to be just like when she grew up. She tells him about how when Nicole first kissed her, she didn’t panic and run, but her life changed in the craziest way because she started wondering all of these things about herself. And she finally admits that perhaps she kissed Nicole first.</p>
<p>Jeremy is supportive and she’s able to ask him a few questions that allows her to cross them off of her list. He grins at her the entire time like he’s happy to finally have someone who is genuinely curious about his coming out story. She feels like this brings them closer, like maybe if worse comes to worse she can lean on him for support.</p>
<p>The rest of the work day flies by so fast and when she gets home she doesn’t worry too much about dolling herself up for Champ. She’s asked him to come around at around 6, but the clock has flown way past that and he still hasn’t arrived. She’s just typing up a message to Nicole when he finally arrives, a knock on her door almost too casual to make her feel important.</p>
<p>When she answers it all she sees is his smug grin. It grates her to her core and makes her want to just yell or scream at him. Instead, she steadies her breathing and greets him with a smile.</p>
<p>“Champ, hi,” she says.</p>
<p>“Hey,” he replies flippantly, “Did you make dinner?”</p>
<p>“We need to talk,” she says as he rushes into the apartment like he’s a permanent fixture. He huffs and throws himself onto the couch, making himself comfortable. She stares at him, wondering how she’s really put up with him for the last 4 years. “I need to talk.”</p>
<p>“Ok, babe,” he says, pulling out his phone, “Talk.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t look at her for a full minute. She times him. She doesn’t even say anything just counts to 60 and lets her frustration boil over. It isn’t like this is a new behavior. This is what he always does and, yet, she was hoping that he would respect her enough to listen to her break up with him at least.</p>
<p>“Champ!” She finally barks, voice sharp.</p>
<p>He visibly sighs and looks up at her. He whines out a desperate, “Waverly.”</p>
<p>He’s looking at her finally. She pushes her hair back out of her face and musters all of her energy and grace into the next moment. The words evade her so slowly that stare at each other in awkward silence. She hears her phone ding from the other room and her heart soars at the thought that it could be Nicole.</p>
<p>“Champ,” she starts, the hope kicking her into high gear, “This just, it isn’t working for me anymore.”</p>
<p>“Ok, damn,” he says, laughing slightly, “I’ll put the phone away. Geez.”</p>
<p>“No, Champ,” she says, reaching out to stop him from moving, “I met someone.”</p>
<p>“You met someone?” He asks, eyebrows furrowing, “I don’t understand.”</p>
<p>“I met someone,” Waverly says again, blinking wildly until Champ sits up straighter, “And you and me? We don’t work. We haven’t worked for a long time. I don’t know if you’ve noticed...”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing to notice,” Champ says, a serious look gracing his face, “You’re my girlfriend.”</p>
<p>“Why is that? Why am I even still your girlfriend? I know you’ve been sleeping with other women for god knows how long,” Waverly snaps, “So why exactly do you keep me hanging on?”</p>
<p>“My mom likes you,” Champ says. His answer only managed to aggravate her. Of all of the things he could have said, that’s what he settles on.</p>
<p>“Your mom?” She says, mind going blank, “Of all the things you could say, that’s what you come up with?”</p>
<p>“Well, yeah,” Champ says with a shrug, “There are probably like a thousand girls out there but my mom likes you best.”</p>
<p>Waverly bursts out laughing at how stupid he sounds. She could go through the effort to correct him, but she decides it isn’t her job to educate him anymore. He could just as easily use google as she does to become better informed. Once she’s calmed her laughter, she catches Champ’s confused look.</p>
<p>“We’re done,” she says, “Get out of my apartment.”</p>
<p>Champ stares at her, dumbstruck. Bulging her eyes out, she gives him a very pointed look that encourages him to hop to. He grunts as he stands up and makes his way out of her apartment, leaving behind a few warnings that she’ll change her mind.</p>
<p>A huge relief is lifted from her shoulders the moment he’s gone. She makes a quick meal while exchanging text messages with Nicole until she has to begin her shift. Waverly immediately crawls into bed once Nicole wishes her goodnight and she sleeps soundly.</p>
<p>The next few days are remotely uneventful. She takes a few selfies and sends them to Nicole. The reply is off the charts encouraging and helps her to not feel so silly for sending the pictures in the first place. On multiple occasions, Nicole counts down the days until they can see each other again.</p>
<p>Waverly is smiling more freely and laughing louder. Jeremy notes a change in her, and all Waverly can do is blush because she knows it’s true. There’s only one thing left on her to do list before she sees Nicole and that is to tell Wynonna.</p>
<p>However, that never comes. Wynonna is out until way past the time she goes to bed and is conked out when Waverly gets up. This isn’t an exception for Friday night. Her worry for her sister serves as a distraction from her excitement at seeing Nicole again. She writes down a few points to make with Wynonna the moment she can have a serious talk. Wynonna needs to get her shit together. Or at least Waverly thinks so.</p>
<p>Saturday she’s woken up by the sound of her alarm which serves as a nice change to waking up to the sound of Wynonna’s freight train rolling through the apartment. She has a muffin for breakfast that she got from a bakery down the street, vegan blueberry that’s more delicious than she expected. She’s definitely found it to be easier to eat vegan in the city than she did in Purgatory.</p>
<p>After she’s had a good cup of coffee, she returns to her bedroom to pick out an outfit. She chooses something that will be comfortable to exist in for hours of walking around a museum, the shoes the most important option. She’s spent hours in this specific museum, but she’s mostly excited about the prospect of showing off her knowledge to Nicole.</p>
<p>She checks her phone before she leaves her apartment just to be sure she doesn’t arrive too early, appear too eager. It occurs to her that she hasn’t received a text from Nicole yet so she shoots one off, hoping but not expecting a response. Worst case, she will see Nicole in half an hour or so at the museum.</p>
<p>She arrives a little early and meanders outside. The time passes by so slowly and as it does so, her stomach drops further and further. Nicole is half an hour late. Everything she knows about Nicole points to that being extremely rare. To top it off, the lack of text response is concerning.</p>
<p>Eventually, Waverly gives up and heads into the museum. She joins a tour group even though she has enough knowledge she could probably host the tour. It helps her to not have to think, to have some mindless guidance through something she already knows how to navigate. Halfway through, she feels exhausted and emotionally drained. Her thoughts have been running rampant at all of the reasons why Nicole isn’t here. The only reason she can settle on is that Nicole has changed her mind.</p>
<p>The tour ends not a moment too soon. Although her stomach is grumbling, she ignores it and immediately makes her way home. She manages to hold everything in until she arrives. Thankfully, Wynonna is still asleep so there’s no explanation needed. She strips out of her date clothes and climbs into bed, clutching to a pillow.</p>
<p>She lets herself do something she never did over Champ: cry.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Worry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Waverly finally breaks down and tells Wynonna</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eyes red and puffy from tears, she doesn’t leave her bed all weekend. She checks her phone obsessively and when Wynonna knocks on her door she feigns sick. Somehow, her lies are working on her older sister but she really isn’t ready to let all of the truths spill out. Not when she now has so much to be embarrassed about.</p><p>Monday morning, still no word from Nicole. She heads into work pouting, shoulders slumped. She waits for Jeremy to ask questions or begin the vocal observation of her appearance, but he’s extremely polite by deciding not to say anything to her. She appreciates him, but she also wishes he would just pry open the jar so she can splatter her feelings everywhere.</p><p>Instead, she keeps them bottled up.</p><p>Her phone is oddly quiet. Champ doesn’t even text her back. A few days pass and it’s Wednesday afternoon before it lights up with a notification. Her defeated attitude only deepens when she finally sees Nicole’s name and the message: <em>Waverly, let me explain</em>.</p><p>The radio silence has been broken and all it does is make Waverly’s tears burst out of her eyes. Streaming down her cheeks, the salty tears burn her skin. She can’t even look across her desk at Jeremy because she knows she will only see his pity. She excuses herself to the bathroom for a good 30 minutes, leaving her phone behind on her desk.</p><p>When she returns, Jeremy says, “What’s going on, Waverly?”</p><p>“Everything is just happening so fast,” Waverly says, voice small and sounding defeated even to herself, “I just want everything to slow down. Just for a second.”</p><p>“What happened?” Jeremy asks.</p><p>“Nicole didn’t show up on Saturday,” she explains, “She’s been ignoring me and just texted me. She said she wants to explain.”</p><p>“What do you want to do?” He says. He abandons his desk chair and moves closer, leaning against the corner of her desk. He offers her a smile, but it’s sad. “I think what’s most important is what you want.”</p><p>“I don’t even know what I want anymore,” she replies. A fresh wave of tears pricks at her eyes, skin tingling as her phone lights up again. She sees a number of missed notifications lined up across the screen, but it only digs deeper. “I thought I wanted to give this thing a shot but she blew me off. It’s scary, Jeremy. What if I made a huge mistake?”</p><p>“What if she has a good reason?” Jeremy tries.</p><p>“Champ fed me excuses for years,” Waverly replies, “There isn’t anything she can say that I haven’t heard before.”</p><p>“I know you want her to be different than Champ, and she might be,” Jeremy starts slowly, “But you have to give her a chance to explain herself.”</p><p>“You’re right,” Waverly says with a heavy sigh.</p><p>The conversation fizzles out and Waverly is left with her thoughts. She finally brings herself to check her phone, sliding through her messages. Nicole asks her to come over so they can talk, but Waverly already feels the let down. She doesn’t know how she can get her hopes up like that.</p><p>She ignores her messages throughout the work day. By the time she gets home, she hasn’t received anymore texts. She decides to just get ready for bed, skip dinner, and cry herself to sleep. When she wakes up close to midnight by the sound of her front door opening, her phone has a few missed yet pleading texts from Nicole.</p><p>She leaves it in her bedroom to go out and meet Wynonna in the living room. Wynonna pulls her face back in a silent apology and Waverly realizes that she’s at least trying to be considerate. Wynonna says, “Hey, baby girl. Did I wake you?”</p><p>Waverly shakes her head. Surprisingly, Wynonna seems to be sober and a little put together. Waverly sighs and the tears come again, falling down her cheeks so openly that she can’t even hide it from her sister anymore. She tries to open her mouth to reply but the words get caught in her throat. What would she even say?</p><p>“Whoa,” Wynonna says, voice closer than Waverly can make out, “What’s happening?”</p><p>Waverly still can’t form words but she folds into her sister’s arms. She’s having a full on breakdown as she’s lead to the couch, Wynonna doing very little to coax the words out of her. This is what she needs, a good cuddle and cry.</p><p>Wynonna houses her in a comforting embrace for a few minutes, keeping her grounded as her tears fall. Once she’s able to control her breathing, she lifts her head from Wynonna’s shoulder and wipes at the tears. She says, “It’s been a shitty week.”</p><p>“I feel that so hard,” Wynonna grumbles.</p><p>“What?” Waverly asks, focus shifting from herself to her sister.</p><p>“Enough about me,” Wynonna replies flippantly, “Why are you crying in the middle of the night?”</p><p>“Everything,” Waverly says. Wynonna sighs, clearly annoyed by the lack of information she’s spilling right now. Inhaling, she gathers all of her courage and prepares herself for the fact that everything could change. “I was ghosted.”</p><p>“Champ’s a loser,” Wynonna says, waving her hand in the air.</p><p>“Not Champ. I broke up with Champ,” Waverly says. Wynonna does a silent fist pump in the air which makes Waverly smile. Making a decision, she looks down at her hands and considers all of the things about Nicole she can tell Wynonna. “I’ve been seeing someone, a cop.”</p><p>“A cop?! Come on, Waverly,” Wynonna says, flying off the handle, “A cop? There are like a million other people in this city but you started dating a cop?”</p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” Waverly says dismissively, “We aren’t seeing each other anymore. She ghosted me.”</p><p>Wynonna’s gaze narrows on Waverly but she doesn’t immediately say anything. They stare at each other for a hot minute before Wynonna relents first. She says, “Well, this cop, is she just blowing you off, or...?”</p><p>“Not exactly,” Waverly huffs. She hugs herself tightly and looks in the direction of her bedroom, where her phone sits holding all of the potential answers. Waverly shakes her head and puts herself back into the moment. “She wants me to come over so she can explain, but I’ve heard enough excuses from Champ. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard them all, but Jeremy thinks I should hear her out.”</p><p>“Is she really worth it, baby girl? I mean, how many dates did you even go on?” Wynonna asks.</p><p>“Enough to know that she isn’t the type to ghost,” Waverly admits. The realization hits her hard. She should really hear Nicole out, but the heart still hurts. Still, her heart aches to feel the love that Nicole has to offer. “What if something bad happened to her, Wynonna, and I’ve been ignoring her?”</p><p>“It isn’t the end of the world,” Wynonna says with a shrug. Waverly starts pouting at the flippancy of her sister’s statement and she can’t help but Let is hurt her feelings. In part, it’s her fault for not telling Wynonna in the first place, especially because she doesn’t know of any of the good stuff. “But if you like her, maybe you should hear what she has to say.”</p><p>Waverly gives up on her hostility for the night and they turn on the television, watching some trashy reality tv shows for a few hours. Waverly falls asleep on Wynonna and only gets up when her sister wakes her up and sends her to bed.</p><p>Morning comes very early and she feels the exhaustion throughout her entire body. All day, she debates on the appropriate thing to text in return to Nicole but her brain is too cloudy. She can’t think of what to say, like perhaps too much time has passed. She hasn’t even heard from Nicole all day.</p><p>Her route home, she imagines crawling into bed the moment she walks through the door. She ignores her surroundings and listens to gentle music on her phone, only removing the earbuds when she gets to her stop. Climbing the stairs to her apartment is difficult and she feels every second of it.</p><p>When her apartment door comes into view, she feels like her eyes are deceiving her. Someone sits on the floor by her front door, hunched over, one knee pulled to their chest while the other one is stretched out. Waverly knows who it is, knows that if she allows herself to fully feel it that she may lead her own feelings astray. She approaches with caution and when she gets close, their chin lifts to cast her a look.</p><p>“Waverly,” Nicole says, voice soft and somehow surprised. She smiles carefully, a tired look on her face. All Waverly wants to do is figure out what’s going on, how things went so wrong so quickly. “Hi, hey.”</p><p>Waverly doesn’t say anything because her voice is caught in her throat. She watches as Nicole gets to her feet and stands so slowly that Waverly is overwhelmed with concern. Nicole groans softly, her body protesting the movement. Waverly instinctually reaches out and wraps her hand around Nicole’s forearm, helping her to her feet properly.</p><p>“I need to talk to you,” Nicole says.</p><p>“Nicole,” Waverly replies quietly, “Please.”</p><p>“Waverly, please,” Nicole echoes. Waverly steps away from her to unlock the front door and pushes it open. She doesn’t want to look back at Nicole. She knows her resolve will fade. “Please, don’t shut me out. I’m not like him. I wouldn’t do that to you.”</p><p>“I didn’t hear from you for days,” Waverly says. Her voice sounds weird and she realizes it’s because she’s crying again. She huffs and wipes at her eyes. “I just want one day where I don’t cry.”</p><p>“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Nicole says, “I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I didn’t want to.”</p><p>“Then why did you?” Waverly asks, voice rising. It echoes throughout the hallway, no doubt disturbing her nosy neighbors. She takes a step back into her apartment, but Nicole doesn’t follow. She just stands in the doorway. “I wanted you to be different.”</p><p>“I am different,” Nicole says. Their eyes lock and she can see the honesty on Nicole’s eyes. She silently searches them for all of the truths Nicole hasn’t told yet but will, and she’s suddenly more afraid to hear the truths. “Waverly, I got shot.”</p><p>“What?!” Waverly screams so loud that her throat feels raw, emotion sticking into her mouth as the feelings rush out of her eyes again.</p><p>She feels Nicole’s hands cup her face, thumbs sweeping her cheekbones to wipe away the tears. She leans into the touch, her vision blurry. She feels Nicole settle her forehead against her temple, the warmth of her helping this lost feeling dissipate at least a little.</p><p>“Baby, I don’t want to scare you,” Nicole whispers. Nicole pushes her arms around Waverly’s shoulders and holds her close. The shock keeps rearing and all Waverly can do is hug Nicole back. “It’s been a crazy few days and all I want is to see you.”</p><p>“I was mad at you,” Waverly says.</p><p>“That’s ok,” Nicole replies. She pulls back and holds Waverly’s face in her hands. She offers Waverly a smile. “I’m mad at me, too.”</p><p>“Jesus,” Waverly says. Sucking in a deep breath, she gathers herself. The realization hits her hard suddenly. Nicole could be severely injured. She could have died. “Are you ok?”</p><p>“Well, I’m not dead,” Nicole says, slight laugh falling out of her mouth.</p><p>“Nicole,” Waverly snaps.</p><p>“I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry,” Nicole says, straightening her demeanor. Nicole catches her eye and forces her to look at her again. Waverly’s resolve melts and she wants to know everything. As scary as it is, she wants to know. “Believe it or not, my phone saved my life. I had just sent you a text when I got a call and shoved it right into my front pocket. Bullet lodged right in there. Took a couple of days to get out of the hospital and once I got the phone replaced, everything was lost. I had to do a little bit of illegal digging to find your number again.”</p><p>Waverly gulps as she pulls back, giving Nicole’s torso a once over. Her eyebrows furrow as she pensively considers where Nicole might have been hit. She absently licks her lips and says, “Can I see?”</p><p>“It’s just a small cut and some bruises,” Nicole replies with a shrug. Waverly just lifts her eyebrows in response as she steps back into the apartment, holding tight to Nicole’s hand and dragging her forward. She watches as Nicole hesitates long enough to shut and lock the front door. “Do you really want to see it?”</p><p>“Mmhmm,” Waverly mutters.</p><p>Nicole grins and pulls her hand out of Waverly’s. Watching as Nicole leans back against the arm of the couch, Waverly tucks her bottom lip between her teeth. She bites down on it a little as Nicole slowly lifts the hem of her shirt up and reveals the injury. Curiosity gets the best of her, so she lifts her hand and runs her fingers along the bruised area just below Nicole’s breast against her ribcage. She hisses at the contact.</p><p>“Does it hurt?” Waverly asks.</p><p>“Nothing I can’t live with,” Nicole replies. Waverly flattens her palm over the area, thumb pressing against the plump roundness of Nicole’s flesh and sweeping it across her skin. Nicole hisses again and says, “That tickles.”</p><p>“Does it really?” Waverly asks, fingers hardly retracting.</p><p>“No,” Nicole says. She drops the shirt from her grasp, the material now resting on Waverly’s arm. She feels Nicole’s hand press against her hip, the other hand swiftly wrapping around to the back of her neck. “Are we good?”</p><p>Waverly sucks in a deep breath as Nicole squeezes her hip, mind barely in the moment anymore. Stepping forward, she slips between Nicole’s knees and leans down to close the short distance between them. She kisses Nicole softly at first, giving her a non-verbal answer, but when the kiss is returned it drives her harder. Deepening the kiss, Waverly flits her tongue against Nicole’s lip until her mouth is parting and she’s just as fervent.</p><p>Waverly pushes her hand further up Nicole’s chest and more boldly presses her palm against her breast. The seconds tick away as she leans more fully against Nicole and has to use both hands for balance. Her nerves bounce wildly inside of her, itching for more.</p><p>Lungs screaming for air, she pulls back. She rests her head against Nicole’s shoulder, laughing softly as the kiss still courses through her. Her hands still press against Nicole’s chest and her weight only shifts away as Nicole moves her hand to Waverly’s elbow.</p><p>“That’s even better than I remembered,” Nicole says.</p><p>“Does this hurt?” Waverly asks.</p><p>Nicole shakes her head. She tries not to think of the way that Nicole’s skin feels beneath her fingers, enticing her to put all of her research into practice. Nicole leans down and slowly kisses her again, just as desperate as before. Something inside of her kicks Waverly into high gear and she pushes at Nicole’s shirt, lifting it higher to reveal her torso.</p><p>Just as she’s pulled on the shirt and has it free from Nicole’s body, she hears the sound of a key sliding into the lock.</p><p>She pulls back quickly and shoves the shirt between them. Leaning heavily against Nicole’s chest prompts a surprised groan. Waverly says, “Shit.”</p><p>“Bedroom,” Nicole quickly suggests.</p><p>Waverly grabs her hand quickly and tugs her down the hallway. Just as they get to her bedroom door, she hears Wynonna push the door open and yell into the apartment that she’s home. They both start laughing as the door is slammed shut and Waverly leans heavily against it. Waverly turns her head to look at Nicole, the potentially awkward part of the situation completely disappearing.</p><p>Nicole turns and kisses her soundly. It takes her breath away. The feeling of Nicole’s hands against her stomach takes her off guard, especially as her brain catches up and she realizes that Nicole’s shirt has fallen to the floor. She’s standing topless in Waverly’s bedroom, body flush against hers and overwhelming her with feelings she’s never felt before. Pressing her hands against Nicole’s torso only manages to break them apart with a resounding protest falling from Nicole’s lips.</p><p>“Sorry, sorry,” Nicole mutters, “Ribs are a little bruised.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Waverly says. She bends down and grabs Nicole’s shirt from the floor.</p><p>“It’s ok,” Nicole replies quickly. Handing over the shirt, Nicole pulls it on as quickly as she possibly can. She has a bit of a struggle and Waverly feels horrible. “I’m going to be honest though, I’m probably too sore to keep doing this right now.”</p><p>“I’m incredibly exhausted,” Waverly admits, “I haven’t been getting much sleep the last few days.”</p><p>“Hey,” Nicole says softly. A pout forms on Nicole’s mouth. Waverly doesn’t want to her to feel guilty. It wasn’t anything that Nicole could help, but the guilt shouldn’t settle. “I’m really sorry, Waves.”</p><p>“You could maybe stay,” Waverly says, “Give me a little more peace to help me sleep better.”</p><p>“Your sister is cool with this?” Nicole asks, “With me being here?”</p><p>“Well, she has a little bit of a problem with you being a cop, but she’s otherwise fine,” Waverly answers. Nicole grins widely and it makes Waverly’s heart warm. She shrugs and grins back. “She can get used to the cop thing.”</p><p>“Good,” Nicole says.</p><p>She opens up her arms as wide as they will go and Waverly steps into them. Wrapping her arms around Nicole’s waist, they stand like that until there’s a loud noise in the other room that surprises them. Slowly, they step apart. Waverly changes out of her clothes for the day and into something more comfortable to sleep in. Whenever she gets out of the bathroom, Nicole is lounging on the bed with her shoes off.</p><p>“Oh shoot,” Waverly says, “Are you hungry?”</p><p>“I’m actually really tired,” Nicole replies.</p><p>Waverly crawls into the bed and curls up with Nicole, fingers slipping under Nicole’s shirt to trace patterns in her skin. It doesn’t take long for Waverly to fall to sleep with Nicole’s arms wrapped around her. Wynonna doesn’t bother them and when she wakes up it’s the best night of sleep she’s had in as long as she can remember. Nicole is wrapped around her and it makes it difficult for Waverly to want to get out of bed.</p><p>Waverly gets ready and let’s Nicole sleep a little longer before waking her up. On her way out, they sneak past Wynonna who is snoring just as loud as normal. Nicole tells her about her plans for the day, how she doesn’t go back to work until Monday at the earliest because she has a doctor appointment later that will either clear her or put her on desk duty. Waverly secretly hopes for desk duty.</p><p>Once they part ways, it gives Waverly all day to worry about Nicole getting hurt on the job and what comes with dating a cop. She hadn’t really ever thought about the dangers of that. Where she’s from, nothing to that extreme happens and the police are just there to solve petty disagreements between neighbors or serve as the neighborhood watch.</p><p>She’s distracted by these thoughts all day, but is ultimately comforted by receiving a text from Nicole after lunch that says she’s on desk duty. The sad face emoji she uses indicates that she isn’t happy about it, but it at least takes some of the sting out. Somewhere around the time she’s leaving work Nicole asks her if she would like to come over for dinner. Jeremy must see that her face is lighting up at the prospect of seeing Nicole again so soon. He is certainly privy to the newest update after their day of oversharing.</p><p>Waverly spends a good portion of her journey home thinking about seeing Nicole with her top off the night before. A younger version of herself would have either looked away or denied having looked at all, but she realizes that she had been feeling a bit turned on at the time. And maybe even a bit just thinking about it now.</p><p>When she gets home she changes into more comfortable clothing and out of the skirt she wore to work. Wynonna isn’t there in the brief time that she’s there so on her way out of the door she shoots Wynonna a text saying she’s going out. She heads downstairs to her Uber that’s waiting outside and as soon as she’s safely in it she lets Nicole know she’s headed over.</p><p>The ride feels long. Traffic is more excruciating than normal, probably because she’s excited now that everything between them is good. She understands how crazy everything was in just a span of a few days and she’s had all day to think about how scary it was. She just wants to have Nicole under her sights to be sure she’s ok.</p><p>Getting to Nicole’s apartment is a huge relief for her. Waverly has big plans to just spending as much time examining Nicole as she will be allowed. She climbs the stairs to Nicole’s apartment with a beautiful view and knocks on the door. Nicole opens the door quickly and doesn’t leave her waiting.</p><p>The moment Waverly sees Nicole, so many thoughts jump into her head. Nicole doesn’t look extremely spectacular. She doesn’t have on anything special. But she looks beautiful. Waverly looks at the curve of her lips and steps forward, placing a kiss there. It’s crazy to her how right it feels to kiss Nicole, how normal and not scary.</p><p>They still have more to talk about. Those few days she didn’t hear from Nicole flared up a lot of old insecurities she’s been trying to put behind her, but she isn’t entirely sure if they should get into this tonight. It’s a lot, and it would probably scare Nicole off.</p><p>“I missed you,” Nicole murmurs. She feels Nicole folding her arms around Waverly and holding her in a tight hug. Her words warm Waverly to her core and it makes her wrap her arms around Nicole’s middle. They stand like that for only a short time before Waverly pulls back a little to look up at Nicole. Nicole kisses her gently, reassurance spilling over. “How does Chinese and a movie sound?”</p><p>“Sounds perfect,” Waverly murmurs. She pushes up on her toes to give Nicole a chaste kiss. They separate and make their way into the living room.</p><p>Once they sit down on the couch they look through the restaurant menu together. They both pick what they want and Nicole orders it. They relax on the couch watching random things on television until there’s a knock on the door. Nicole gets up to pay the delivery person and retrieve the food.</p><p>When she returns, they each have their food prepared and have decided on a movie. Halfway through the movie, Waverly has comfortably curled herself into Nicole’s side. The way she feels against Nicole’s side with an arm wrapped around her shoulders almost makes her forget all of her insecurities. She’s reminded of her fears though every time she brushes Nicole’s side and she makes a weird noise indicating pain or surprise or something.</p><p>The movie ends and rolls all of the way through the credits before either of them move. She feels Nicole’s finger hook beneath her chin and tilt her face upward. Briefly, they stare at each other until Nicole leans down and kisses her softly. They kiss like that for a few minutes before they pull back and Nicole immediately places a kiss against her forehead.</p><p>“Mmmm,” Waverly hums, “I really like you, Nicole.”</p><p>Nicole laughs a little, more like a smile that becomes audible. She tightens her arm around Waverly’s shoulders. Nicole says, “I like you too.”</p><p>“Is your question still on the table?” Waverly asks.</p><p>“What question is that?” Nicole says, a little confused if the look on her face is any indication.</p><p>“Can I be your girlfriend?” Waverly asks, but quickly panics, “I mean, don’t feel obligated to say yes if it isn’t what you want or whatever. I know you’ve had a crazy week.”</p><p>“That doesn’t change anything,” Nicole says. Waverly feels her hand curl onto her skin like a refusal to let go. Smiling softly, Nicole says, “If anything, it only made me even more sure that I want you in my life. Is that, ok?”</p><p>“Don’t worry me like that again,” Waverly says, tapping her stomach.</p><p>“I’ll do my best, baby,” Nicole says, lifting her hand in the air and showing Waverly her palm. Waverly lifts her hand and presses her palm against Nicole’s, sliding her fingers between hers. “You want to be my girlfriend?”</p><p>“I want to be your girlfriend,” Waverly answers. They kiss softly, like a promise that there are many more kisses to come.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Pleasure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Everything just seems right.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's the chapter you've all been waiting for.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The weekend flies by a lot quicker than Waverly wants but she spends it all with Nicole, making sure everything is perfect with her and them. By the time she heads into work on Monday she feels like she’s in a much better place and feeling more secure about what her and Nicole are. Nicole is her girlfriend, and telling people doesn’t feel as scary as she initially thought it would when they first started this thing.</p>
<p>Halfway through her work morning they have a special delivery straight to her desk. Waverly is confused but when the flowers are placed at the corner and Waverly reads the cards, things become more clear to her. Happy tears slip down her cheeks at the words, thank you for being my girlfriend. It’s such a small thing but way more than Champ had ever thought to do.</p>
<p>Immediately pulling out her phone, she takes a picture of them and sends it to Nicole with a text. She can mostly only manage flailing letters and kiss face emojis. Nicole replies rather quickly with her own kiss emoji.</p>
<p>Waverly’s day at work flies by. In fact, her entire week flies by. She sees Nicole a few times, mostly going places for dinner, but they make plans to do sometimes different soon. On the days she isn’t seeing Nicole, she gets to hang out with Wynonna. They don’t get to discuss anything too substantial because Wynonna is a little bit going through something but keeps telling Waverly not to worry about it.</p>
<p>The worry begins to take her over towards the end of the week and when she gets to Nicole’s, it’s all she can think about. She feels horrible. Nicole went through the trouble to make a vegan lasagna and she can barely stomach the food because of her anxiety.</p>
<p>“Wynonna is being weird,” Waverly says with a huff, “I don’t know what’s going on with her. She just isn’t talking about anything.”</p>
<p>“Has she always, kind of, kept things from you?” Nicole asks. Waverly watches as she lifts a bite of the lasagna and shoves it into her mouth, staring at her as she chews. She is attentive, at least.</p>
<p>“Ugh, yes,” Waverly says, “She’s always been so secretive. Ever since we were kids. I don’t know how to make her talk.”</p>
<p>“I have a few tactics,” Nicole starts.</p>
<p>“I am not using brute force,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“What? No!” Nicole says, looking slightly offended before she smirks, “My charm. I was going to say charm.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Waverly replies. She shrinks into herself and pushes more food around her plate. Her cheeks feel warm with embarrassment.</p>
<p>“Are you not hungry? You’ve hardly eaten any of it and, I know I’ve never made it before, but it isn’t the worst,” Nicole says.</p>
<p>“No no,” Waverly quickly says, “It’s great, and I really appsreciate the effort. Truly. I haven’t had anyone try to make me dinner like this before. You’re really sweet.”</p>
<p>“No offense, but sounds like you’ve just been dating a bunch of assholes,” Nicole replies.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but I’m not dating them anymore,” Waverly says, smiling, “I’m dating you.”</p>
<p>“You sure are, baby,” Nicole says. She smiles and stands from the table, grabbing both plates and taking them into the kitchen. She returns quickly. Meanwhile, Waverly has a surprised look on her face after her food has been stolen from her. “You’re not eating. I’ll just put it away and we can try again when you’re hungry.”</p>
<p>“Nicole,” Waverly says. Nicole helps her into a standing position and pulls her up against her body. It steals Waverly’s breath away when Nicole pushes both hands around her middle and starts moving them slowly. “What are you doing?”</p>
<p>“Dancing,” Nicole replies.</p>
<p>Waverly gives her a look and says, “But there isn’t any music.”</p>
<p>“Right, sorry,” Nicole says. Waverly feels one hand leave her waist as Nicole digs in her pocket for her phone. She glances away to pick something on her phone and the sound erupts around the apartment, quiet. She lays the device on the table. “Better?”</p>
<p>Making the decision to stop being so obstinate, she lets Nicole lead her in the dance. Towards the end of the song, she realizes the distraction has served well and she’s no longer thinking about her sister. All she’s thinking about is Nicole leading her to the beat.</p>
<p>Throughout the night, she wonders how Nicole is able to do this, distract her from everything else and keep her calm. It’s nice to have someone around who keeps her grounded. She has a tendency to be a neurotic mess at times.</p>
<p>It’s getting fairly late when Nicole tries dinner again. Waverly points out that it’s late enough that she probably needs to head home because she works in the morning. Nicole pouts but seems understanding. She packs up all of the lasagna and sends it home with Waverly, requesting a text to be sure she gets home safely.</p>
<p>The following workday is mostly boring even though they have a ton of research to do for the weekend crew to use. Despite the busy schedule of the day, she’s distracted by the fact that Nicole is coming over to meet Wynonna. She knows it probably won’t go well given Wynonna’s dicey history with the police, but it’s an important step in her relationship with Nicole. Besides, she really thinks that Wynonna would be pleased when seeing them together. If she gives Nicole a chance, that is.</p>
<p>When she’s home from work, Nicole comes over before Wynonna comes home. It irritates Waverly a little because Wynonna is aware of the plans but it is so Wynonna not to conform to schedules. Waverly keeps apologizing to Nicole who smiles politely and tells her it’s ok, she still wants Waverly all to herself anyway. They’ve eaten some avocados by the time they give up on Wynonna arriving.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Nicole says softly, “It’s ok. There’s always another time.”</p>
<p>Waverly’s groans and falls into Nicole’s embrace. Laughing gently, Nicole hugs her tightly and flattens both palms against her back. She presses her own hands against Nicole’s stomach and asks, “How are your ribs?”</p>
<p>“Better,” Nicole replies. Waverly nods her head and pushes at the hem of Nicole’s shirt, revealing the bruised area. The cut is healed but there’s a faint scare and the bruises are fading slowly. Waverly bends down and lightly kisses the area to which Nicole inhales. “Be careful. You’re starting something, babe.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah?” Waverly asks. Nicole has an eyebrow cocked when Waverly looks up at her, the glint in her eyes showing Waverly that she’s getting Nicole to feel some type of way. Waverly pushes a little more at her shirt to bring it up, revealing a little more and noticing that Nicole still isn’t yet wearing a bra. “I think I’m ready.”</p>
<p>“You are?” Nicole says, desperation for clarity thick between them.</p>
<p>“We’ve been seeing each other all summer,” Waverly says, “And you’ve been incredibly patient with me while I’ve figured everything out. I think I’m ready to do this.”</p>
<p>“Hey,” Nicole says, tilting her chin up so they can look at each other in the eye, “You don’t have to do this if you think it’s what I want. I love you, Waverly. I can wait until next summer if that’s what you want.”</p>
<p>“You love me?” Waverly mutters, widening her eyes.</p>
<p>“A bullet coming at you kind of puts a few things into perspective,” Nicole replies. She smiles. It warms Waverly’s insides until her brain registers what’s been said. She cannot go through this again.</p>
<p>“Please never get shot again,” Waverly says, eyes welling up with tears, “I don’t think I can properly handle that.”</p>
<p>“I’ll do my best, baby,” Nicole says. Waverly feels her hands slide over her back, teasing her nerve endings a bit with the movement. Waverly shivers and presses her palms more firmly against Nicole’s torso, hands poised and ready to roam. Nicole moves quickly, catching her by the wrists and says, “Seriously, we can wait.”</p>
<p>“I don’t want to wait,” Waverly says, shaking her head, “I’m tired of being too scared to go after what I want, and I want you. It’s been slow going coming to that conclusion, but it’s what I want. I’m ready.”</p>
<p>“Ok,” Nicole says with her lips parted. She absently licks them as Waverly watches the wheels turn in her head. Stepping back, Nicole leads her into the bedroom and gestures for her to sit on the edge of the mattress. “Do you have any candles? I kind of wanted this to be romantic, at least.”</p>
<p>“I don’t need candles or romance. I just need you,” Waverly says. Her insides are screaming at how foreword she’s being. It’s never been very easy for her to just say what she wants. She reaches out to catch Nicole before she can step away, fingers wrapping around her hands and pulling her back. “Show me.”</p>
<p>“I’ll show you,” Nicole replies with a nod.</p>
<p>Pulling on her hands, Waverly releases them as soon as Nicole is in motion and headed her way. She’s ready for the kiss when their lips collide, her hands coming up to frame Nicole’s face as Nicole’s hand frame her body. It’s like a well-choreographed moment when her back hits the mattress and their bodies press together.</p>
<p>Her thighs tap against Nicole’s sides and she realizes how difficult it is to breathe. Panting, she pulls back to look Nicole in the eye, but that doesn’t happen. Nicole begins trailing kisses along her jaw, throat and neck. Shivering, Waverly’s hands move down Nicole’s front and find the belt loops of her pants to pull her closer. She pushes her hands around to the muscles in Nicole’s lower back, urging Nicole more.</p>
<p>They’re kissing again, soft and slow as Nicole shifts her weight to move one hand between them. Tugging at Waverly’s shirt, Nicole slips her hand beneath the material and taps her soft fingertips against bare skin. It feels like sensory overload and Waverly is sighing into Nicole’s mouth while their tongues sweep over soft lips.</p>
<p>Nicole’s hand splays against her stomach, tickling her mercilessly until Waverly laughs. Pulling back, Nicole has a humorously inquisitive smile on her face silently asking Waverly what exactly is so funny. So far, Waverly has done a fairly good job of keeping her ticklish spots far from Nicole’s grasp, but now that they’re all in she can’t help herself.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Waverly murmurs, “I’m very ticklish.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Nicole grins, “You are the most adorable woman I have ever met.”</p>
<p>“Stop,” Waverly says, blushing furiously. Nicole bends down, sliding her shirt up her torso even more.</p>
<p>“You’re smart and funny and sexy as hell,” Nicole whispers. She’s lining kisses along Waverly’s stomach to punctuate each point. Waverly doesn’t feel very ticklish anymore, not with Nicole’s warm breath ghosting her skin. “I almost think you’re too good to be true.”</p>
<p>“I’m not,” Waverly says, sitting up slowly to get a better look at Nicole, “I’m crazy.”</p>
<p>“Fearless,” Nicole corrects. Pressing a kiss against Waverly’s ribs, she chances a swipe of her tongue.</p>
<p>“I’m neurotic,” Waverly tries again.</p>
<p>“Efficient,” Nicole says. She looks up and smiles there. Pulling her weight off of Waverly as she straightens her back, Waverly feels Nicole encase her sides in her hands.</p>
<p>“I’m scared,” Waverly admits. Scared to fall in love and let someone have this power over her, probably.</p>
<p>“Brave,” Nicole replies. She lifts Waverly’s shirt over her head and tosses it aside. Waverly watches the movement, watches the shirt collide with the floor as her mind goes blank. Nicole places open mouth kisses across her shoulders. “I think you’re brave.”</p>
<p>Waverly’s breath constricts like a boa around her throat. Even then, she arches her chest into Nicole’s kiss but nearly chokes on the air when Nicole brushes the back of her hand down Waverly’s sternum only to stop just above her belly button. Waverly says, “How do you do that?”</p>
<p>“What?” Nicole asks, pulling back to look at Waverly in the eye.</p>
<p>“Take my breath away,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>It’s Nicole’s turn to blush. Waverly watches her true her chin down, pale cheeks reddening. She doesn’t say anything in response, just runs her hands along Waverly’s skin until she’s tugging on her pants. Their bodies lose contact as Nicole tosses her jeans aside and Waverly feels the cold air engulf her until Nicole’s slotting between her legs again.</p>
<p>Waverly places both hands on Nicole’s shoulder to stop her from closing in. When Nicole gives her a confused look, she smooths both hands down her torso until she’s grabbing at the hem of her shirt. She pulls it off and tosses it aside, gaze meeting Nicole’s bare chest. She gasps at how just like that she’s bestowed a sight she’s never particularly had before. She’s worried about doing it right, making general mistakes being with Nicole for the first time.</p>
<p>“What if I do it wrong?” She asks.</p>
<p>“I think you’re better than you think you are,” Nicole replies.</p>
<p>“I just don’t want to disappoint you,” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“Whatever you do or don’t do won’t disappoint me,” Nicole says. She smiles softly, dimples showing as she cradles Waverly’s chin in her hand. Waverly moves her own hands to Nicole’s ribs, tapping against her fading bruise. “I promise you, baby. Whatever you have is enough for me.”</p>
<p>Waverly’s heart swells and she feels the tears come to her eyes. She’s never felt such love, especially from someone who hasn’t known her for her entire life. Of course everyone who knows her knows that she strives to be kind and thoughtful to others, but she’s never had someone do the same for her.</p>
<p>“Ok,” Waverly hums.</p>
<p>She sweeps her thumbs across Nicole’s ribs and it prompts her to smile at Waverly. The sentiment is sweet, especially when she leans down and places a chaste kiss against her mouth. Waverly slides a hand up to wind into Nicole’s hair, absently brushing against Nicole’s bare breast and eliciting a change in her breathing. It takes Waverly by surprise, the slight shift in Nicole as her kisses against Waverly’s throat become slightly predatory. She really isn’t complaining, especially when Nicole starts to nip at the fullness of her breast slipping out of the top of her bra.</p>
<p>It creates a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach, a sense of urgency as she realizes everything Nicole is doing with her hands, mouth and body is turning her on. Nicole’s hands are soft and even when her touches are slightly more aggressive they are still gently tracing patterns against her skin, marking her trail as she kisses Waverly everywhere she can reach. There’s something possessive about this that makes Waverly’s body react, hips moving into Nicole’s.</p>
<p>A groan falls out of Nicole’s mouth and it’s possibly the sexiest thing Waverly has ever heard. She didn’t know that sex or even foreplay could be so enjoyable, yet in swoops Nicole changing her views on everything. They’ve barely started and she already can’t wait to feel this way again.</p>
<p>Nicole hisses as her hips grind into Waverly’s, her kisses in waiting as she moves her hands along Waverly’s curves. She feels like she’s a sculpture being brought to life by her creator, and Nicole’s hands are hot against her skin. Waverly whines quietly, her body efficiently feeling teased beyond what she can handle, and Nicole pauses in her adventure to look Waverly in the eye.</p>
<p>“What is it, baby?” Nicole asks.</p>
<p>“Nothing,” she replies. She realizes she’s holding her breath and gasps for air. Hands grasping at Nicole’s bare skin, she feels her head get dizzy.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Nicole whispers, leaning forward and burying her face into Waverly’s neck, “I’ve got you, beautiful.”</p>
<p>Her heart skips a beat at that. She can feel Nicole everywhere and she wants to be everywhere, too. Sliding her hands around to the waist of Nicole’s jeans, she makes quick work to pop the button open and push at the resistance. Nicole pushes her hands against the mattress to look down at Waverly, gauging what she really wants.</p>
<p>Nodding, she says, “I’m ready. I want this. I want to feel you.”</p>
<p>“Me too,” Nicole hums.</p>
<p>Pulling back, Nicole slides her hands along Waverly’s frame as she stands on her feet. Waverly watches as she starts pushing her pants down her legs with a slight struggle as though she painted them on. Of course she did. She’s an artist. As she watches this act, eyes locked on one another, she feels a wave of vulnerability hit her, one which she feels incredibly drawn to. Realizing that she really does feel something deep for Nicole, Waverly joins her in peeling off the remainder of her clothing.</p>
<p>“Is this...is this ok?” Waverly stutters.</p>
<p>“Damn,” Nicole says, standing to her full height, “It’s perfect. You’re perfect.”</p>
<p>Nicole settles her hands on Waverly’s knees and parts them enough for her to settle between them. Feeling Nicole slide a thigh between hers as a pair of hands trickle up her sides, making her shiver. All of Nicole is touching all of her, hands wrapping around her and pressing into her shoulders as Nicole holds her close. When she pulls her knee up, Nicole sighs as her thigh touches wetness and smears it across her skin. The newness of it all turns Waverly on and she realizes Nicole is looking at her face, studying her.</p>
<p>“What are you looking at?” Waverly asks, feeling warm and wanted beneath Nicole.</p>
<p>“My beautiful, sexy girlfriend,” Nicole answers with a smirk, “Trying to figure out what she likes.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Waverly says, “I’m liking this.”</p>
<p>Nicole hums. Waverly feels the weight against her shift slightly as Nicole presses a kiss to her lips. For a moment, Waverly forgets about the pressure between her legs as she’s distracted, tongue sweeping against her bottom lip before the kiss gets deepened. She’s surprised when she feels Nicole press a finger against her clit, a gasp escaping her.</p>
<p>Waverly rocks her hips against Nicole’s hand, feeling the pressure of Nicole’s thigh with it. With every movement, she feels her own thigh brush between Nicole’s legs and a sigh slipping between Nicole’s lips. Her breath catches in her throat as Nicole drops her hand lower, slipping a finger inside of her. Her heart tightens in her chest when Nicole lowers her lips to her throat, sliding her mouth to Waverly’s ear.</p>
<p>Grunts float into the air and Nicole encourages her, rocking her own hips and brushing against Waverly’s thigh. Nicole shifts, applying more pressure against her thigh while sliding a second finger into Waverly’s center and moving faster. Their thrusts become desperate as they move out of sync.</p>
<p>Waverly moans loudly, feeling everything build within her. The heat spreads in her lower torso, her breath constricting as a raw scream inches out. She realizes she’s grasping tightly onto Nicole, nails digging into her skin.</p>
<p>Nicole whispers, “Come for me, baby.”</p>
<p>It almost feels like a command. It prompts her to thrust faster, meeting Nicole’s pace. Moans tumble out of Waverly’s mouth and she bites down on Nicole’s shoulder, almost a little too hard. Climaxing hard, she sees stars and stills her movements, too sensitive to keep going.</p>
<p>Nicole complies sweetly, withdrawing her hand and moving to place kisses against Waverly’s chest. Having a hard time keeping up, she feels Nicole’s mouth circle a nipple and tease it to a point. It keeps her turned on, riled up and randy.</p>
<p>When she can see clearly, she mutters repeatedly, “Oh my god.”</p>
<p>“You ok, baby?” Nicole asks.</p>
<p>“That was,” Waverly pauses and tries to figure out what to say, “That’s never happened to me before.”</p>
<p>“It was my pleasure,” Nicole replies with a slight smirk.</p>
<p>“Was it though?” Waverly asks curiously.</p>
<p>“Almost,” Nicole admits, “But it’s ok.”</p>
<p>Nicole smiles but Waverly only sighs. She turns onto her side to more fully angle her front towards Nicole’s. She walks her fingers around to the space between them, stopping them just below Nicole’s belly button.</p>
<p>Waverly says, “Can I try?”</p>
<p>Waverly’s boldly sliding her hand down to Nicole’s pelvic area, fingers brushing over short, wet curls before Nicole can even answer. Nicole tenses for a moment, but mostly in surprise. Nodding, Nicole says, “Won’t take much, if that helps any.”</p>
<p>Waverly’s eyes widen but she leans forward to press a kiss to Nicole’s mouth. Her hand comes up to cup Waverly’s cheek. Stroking gently, Waverly attempts to replicate the movements Nicole made with her. She quickens her movements and soon Nicole is moaning against Waverly’s mouth. The reaction only gets broader when Waverly slips two fingers into Nicole and pumps. It takes only a few before Nicole is moaning even louder and Waverly feels her fingertips vibrate. Nicole squeezes her thighs tightly around Waverly’s hand, effectively stopping the movement as Nicole starts laughing.</p>
<p>“Was that ok?” Waverly asks, slightly confused by the reaction.</p>
<p>Nicole loosens her thighs and Waverly retracts her hand. Waverly watches Nicole roll onto her back, but manages to wrap her arm around her to be pulled into Nicole’s chest. Waiting patiently, Waverly watches Nicole turn her head to look at her and kisses her softly.</p>
<p>“That was the best,” Nicole whispers against Waverly’s lips, “You’re the best.”</p>
<p>They both giggle and lazily kiss for a while, bodies pressed together. Molding around each other, Waverly drapes her leg across Nicole’s thighs and Nicole quickly wraps her free hand around it. It feels perfect.</p>
<p>After laying like that for a few hours and casually chatting, Nicole pats her hand against Waverly’s bare skin. She says, “Gotta go to the bathroom. Be right back.”</p>
<p>Waverly laughs and shakes her head, already missing the contact. While Nicole is gone, she gets up and finds something to put on - clean underwear and an oversized sweater. Nicole returns and kicks her pants back off, leaving them discarded on the floor and crawling back into bed. They are wearing almost the same thing now, but when Waverly wraps her arm around Nicole’s middle she pushes the shirt up to feel Nicole’s skin beneath her fingers.</p>
<p>“Well,” Nicole says quietly. The silence hangs in the air and Waverly absently wonders what she’s going to say next. She starts running down the list of all of the things and presses her palm flat against Nicole’s ribs to brace herself. “That is not how I wanted to meet your sister.”</p>
<p>“You what?” Waverly asks, fear shooting straight to her core.</p>
<p>“Yep,” Nicole says, reaching down for Waverly’s leg and pulling her back into their previous position, “Heard the whole thing.”</p>
<p>“Shit,” Waverly chokes out.</p>
<p>Nicole laughs softly and just hugs Waverly tighter. They stay curled like that for awhile, touching each other softly and enjoying each other’s company. Waverly falls asleep easily, Nicole’s finger nails gently scratching across the back of her thigh.</p>
<p>When she wakes up, they’ve shifted slightly. She’s still buried into Nicole’s neck, but Nicole has turned to face her and has wrapped her up in her arms. Laying still as long as she can stand so at not to wake Nicole, she thinks back to the night before. Finally, she can’t take it anymore and places kisses against Nicole’s throat until she stirs.</p>
<p>“Morning,” Nicole mutters sleepily.</p>
<p>Waverly slips her hands beneath Nicole’s shirt and feels her torso. She kisses the corner of Nicole’s mouth. She says, “Morning. I have to get up and didn’t want to scare you.”</p>
<p>“No,” Nicole whines, hugging Waverly tighter.</p>
<p>Giggling, she says, “I won’t be but a minute.”</p>
<p>Nicole sighs dramatically, “Fine.”</p>
<p>Nicole only lets go of Waverly when she absolutely has to, and she makes her way out into the hallway to slip into the bathroom. When she opens he bathroom door after finishing, Wynonna is waiting outside and leaning against the wall opposite of her. She’s getting a hard look from her older sister.</p>
<p>“What?” Waverly asks.</p>
<p>“Met your girlfriend,” Wynonna replies, cocking an eyebrow.</p>
<p>“You didn’t really,” Waverly counters, “You spied on her when she went to the bathroom.”</p>
<p>“Wanted to know who was responsible for all of that screaming,” Wynonna says with a shrug, “You’re extremely loud, by the way.”</p>
<p>“Wynonna!” Waverly snaps, “Don’t make me feel ashamed.”</p>
<p>“No, I would never,” Wynonna says, innocently holding her hands up, “I’m a modern feminist, baby girl. You do you. Or she do you. Whichever works.”</p>
<p>“Please stop talking,” Waverly begs, “I’ll do anything.”</p>
<p>“Including breakfast?” Wynonna says, perking up.</p>
<p>“I guess so,” Waverly says, suspicious.</p>
<p>“Good,” Wynonna says, slipping past her and into bathroom while giving her a tap on the ass, “Bring your girlfriend. She’s got some splainin to do.”</p>
<p>“Wynonna,” Waverly begs.</p>
<p>“I’ll be ready in fifteen,” Wynonna replies, shutting the bathroom door in her face.</p>
<p>Waverly sighs loudly before going back into her bedroom. Nicole is still laying there, waiting, and when she hears the door click automatically stretches her arms out. Waverly slips into them, giving Nicole a kiss.</p>
<p>“Can we just stay here all day?” Nicole murmurs.</p>
<p>“Wynonna just conned me into breakfast,” Waverly replies, pouting, “She requests your presence.”</p>
<p>“The good ole third degree,” Nicole says. She feels Nicole’s hand drop to her ass, cupping it gently as she pulls Waverly in for another kiss. When they hear banging on the bedroom door and Wynonna yelling through it, Nicole pulls back. “Alright. Fine.”</p>
<p>Waverly gives her an apologetic smile before they both crawl out of bed. Waverly offers Nicole an oversized t-shirt she got from work, but she doesn’t have any pants that will fit Nicole. She still thinks Nicole is cute, but most importantly her hugs are tight.</p>
<p>From the moment they leave the bedroom, Wynonna is on. She’s teasing them about getting in a quickie when they take turns in the bathroom brush their teeth and make themselves look decent. Nicole hadn’t intended to stay over so she’s vastly unprepared, but Waverly always has a spare toothbrush just in case.</p>
<p>All of the way to the cafe Wynonna goes on and on about them banging. It’s getting Waverly all upset. Nicole must be able to tell because she reaches over and grabs Waverly’s hand, tugging her closer.</p>
<p>At the corner, waiting for the light to turn, Nicole pulls Waverly into her arms and says, “You know that’s not what that was, right? It was more than that.”</p>
<p>“I know,” Waverly says. She pushes up onto her toes and kisses Nicole quickly. Not quick enough because Wynonna is gagging behind them, doing so well at getting under her skin. “Shut up, Wynonna.”</p>
<p>When they finally make it to the restaurant, Nicole clasps her hand and props her elbow on the table. She keeps their hands displayed above the table. Waverly wonders for a moment if it’s a subtle way to get back at Wynonna for being so dramatic. Overall, Nicole takes Wynonna’s teasing and attitude in stride, especially considering she sticks her foot in her mouth so many times.</p>
<p>By the time she strolls into work Monday morning, Waverly thinks that Nicole Haught just might be a keeper.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. What's Next?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Summer ends.  The next begins.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’s been dating Nicole for a while. When she glances at the calendar she figures it been nearly 3 months even though they’ve really only been exclusive for the last month. Either way, she knows she’s in love with Nicole. She doesn’t need a calendar to tell her that.</p>
<p>She’s spoken to Jeremy extensively about her, but he hasn’t yet had the opportunity to meet her. Between Nicole and Wynonna, her time is fairly occupied. She really needs to at least sneak off to a movie with Jeremy. They really have mostly just been work friends but he’s been very helpful throughout the entire coming to terms with her sexuality process. Besides, she could always use a good friend and he has been one.</p>
<p>“So,” Jeremy starts, sipping on too hot a coffee, “Please tell me I finally get to meet Nicole at your birthday.”</p>
<p>“Imagine if I didn’t bring my own girlfriend to my birthday dinner,” Waverly jokes. She laughs uncomfortably, realizing that Jeremy doesn’t really think it’s all that funny. She sits up straighter and says, “She will be there.”</p>
<p>“Goodie,” Jeremy cheers.</p>
<p>She laughs and shakes her head before returning to work.</p>
<p>Her birthday is just a few days away, on Saturday. Typically, she wouldn’t do anything special but both Wynonna and Nicole independently talked her into it. They both claim that 25 is a big number, but that only matters when it comes to car insurance. She doesn’t even have a car.</p>
<p>Over the course of the last month, Nicole has managed to move some things into her closet and vice versa. On the nights Nicole is doing overnight shifts, thankfully not as many days in a row as before, Waverly pulls on one of Nicole’s shirts to keep her company. That’s how she sleeps the night before her birthday because Nicole has a night shift. It was the only way the precinct could honor her request off, but she promises to come straight to Waverly’s when she leaves.</p>
<p>Waverly wakes to the sound of the door creaking. Despite Nicole’s obvious efforts to keep from waking her, she doesn’t sleep as soundly without her girlfriend anymore. It’s silly that she’s already grown so attached in such a short time, she knows. Silently, she watches as Nicole removes her uniform and changes into some shorts and a shirt.</p>
<p>The plan for the day had been to sleep for a little while then to head to a garden festival in the park before dinner. Looking at Nicole though, Waverly can tell she’s exhausted. When Nicole climbs into the bed, Waverly reaches for her hand and wraps her arm around her.</p>
<p>“Damn,” Nicole says. She sighs and places a kiss against Waverly’s jaw just below her ear. Waverly squeezes her hand tightly and Nicole only holds her more firmly to her chest. “Happy birthday, baby.”</p>
<p>“Thank you,” Waverly says. They lay there quietly, reveling in the feel of each other. She only knows Nicole hasn’t yet fallen asleep because her thumb is sweeping over Waverly’s knuckle. A feeling of contentment stirs within her and she can’t keep quiet. Rolling over to look at Nicole’s face, she says, “I love you, Nicole.”</p>
<p>Her heart slows as she finally utters the words she’s been too scared to say until now.</p>
<p>Although her eyes are closed, Nicole smiles. She feels Nicole’s fingers dig into her ribs as she scoots closer to her side. Nicole shifts, rising up a bit to lean over and kiss her. Waverly is surprised but instinctually responds to the kiss. She immediately arches her back and, despite Nicole appearing so tired, they are both filled with adrenaline.</p>
<p>The adrenaline wears off after a few minutes of their satiated bodies sticking together and they both drift to sleep. After a few hours, they wake up to the sound of Wynonna being louder than necessary. She’s slowly learned her lesson of barging in after a few sights that could have gone unseen.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to get up,” Waverly whines, “I just want to be naked with you all day.”</p>
<p>“Not something I would complain about,” Nicole replies. She smirks the moment Waverly looks at her. Waverly curls beneath Nicole’s chin and entangles their legs, wrapping an arm around her middle. “However, I really don’t think it’s going to fly.”</p>
<p>“Why not? It’s my birthday, I can do what I want,” Waverly argues. Nicole chuckles and the movement vibrates from her throat to Waverly’s forehead. For a moment, she thinks about the nearly unfathomable, how quickly she’s become so comfortable with Nicole. “Do you know what I want to do?”</p>
<p>“Uh,” Nicole thinks. Waverly has a thousand answers to this question. They’ve accidentally started a bucket list of things they’ve never done but would like to. Nicole turns to more fully face Waverly, hands pressing into the small of her naked back. “Me?”</p>
<p>“Well, that too,” Waverly says. She lifts a finger and taps it against Nicole’s nose, slowly making a trail over her lips, down her throat, between her breasts and all of the way down until she slips a hand between Nicole’s legs. “I was going to say something a little more adventurous.”</p>
<p>“Like?” Nicole says. Her breath hitches as Waverly begins making circling around her clit. Her palms flatten against Waverly’s back, urging her to continue.</p>
<p>A loud knock echoes on the door and scares her, snatching her hand away from Nicole. She mutters, “Jesus.”</p>
<p>“Christ,” Nicole joins in, clearly shocked as well.</p>
<p>“Are you ever coming out?” Wynonna yells through the door.</p>
<p>“I already did that,” Nicole says, annoyed tone slipping through. Waverly smiles at Nicole’s joke and presses her hands against Nicole’s stomach. She’s blushing, feeling like Wynonna has walked in on them, and Nicole pulls her in for tighter cuddles. “Do you think if we ignore her, she’ll go away?”</p>
<p>“I think she’ll figure out a use for the pots and pans if we do,” Waverly says, snuggling closer, “And I don’t mean for cooking.”</p>
<p>“You’re probably right,” Nicole huffs.</p>
<p>Begrudgingly, they both get up. They both find some clothing to put on before heading into the living room where Wynonna feigns surprise that they’re awake. Nicole looks tired. It makes Waverly feel horrible. Especially when she watches Nicole down a cup of coffee before she says she’s going to take a shower with a kiss to Waverly’s temple.</p>
<p>“I had this whole birthday choreography planned but your stick in the mud girlfriend wouldn’t do it with me,” Wynonna says the moment Nicole is out of the room.</p>
<p>“Wynonna,” Waverly chastises, “Be nice to her.”</p>
<p>“She’s no fun,” Wynonna whines.</p>
<p>Waverly pulls her knee to her chest from her spot on the couch and takes a sip of her coffee. Resting her chin on her knee, she looks over at her sister. She says, “Well, I love her, Wynonna, and I think she’s a lot of fun. We just have different interests than you.”</p>
<p>“Boring,” Wynonna mutters.</p>
<p>“I’m thinking of asking her to move in with me,” Waverly admits. She doesn’t make eye contact with Wynonna, a little embarrassed to admit that she’s been thinking about it. She knows it’s really soon, but she was never this sure about Champ in regards to anything. “I just, I feel better when she’s around.”</p>
<p>“Lesbians,” Wynonna says under her breath.</p>
<p>“Hey,” Waverly says defensively.</p>
<p>“What?” Wynonna replies, lifting her hands up and shrugging, “I’m just saying you guys move fast. I can’t even stay in one place for too long.”</p>
<p>“I’m aware,” Waverly says, deadpan. She sighs and finally looks at her sister. She looks well rested, and it makes Waverly smile. She showed up months ago looking exhausted. “She likes you, Wy, and you like her, too. I know neither of you will say it, but you have a mutual respect for each other and I appreciate that. I know you’re leaving next week, but you’re always welcome to come back whenever you want.”</p>
<p>“I honestly just need a break from you two,” Wynonna says, gagging dramatically, “You’re loud and gross.”</p>
<p>“Stop it,” Waverly says, smiling behind her mug.</p>
<p>Once Nicole is out of the shower, Waverly takes her turn. Wynonna convinces them to skip the garden festival and go to an arcade. She has more fun than Nicole and Waverly, but neither end up complaining about how they pass the time before meeting at party central.</p>
<p>Not usually one for big, flashy parties, Waverly is embarrassed when she walks in. Even though less than half of her guests have arrived by the time they walk in, she still feels weird when everyone is looking at her. Nicole is half a step behind her, letting her lead the way while Wynonna charges in to get the best seat.</p>
<p>The birthday party is really just a nice dinner in a separate room in the restaurant. Nearly everyone is paying for themselves or the dates they’ve brought with them, so it’s not really a big deal. Jeremy is there already. He doesn’t necessarily have a date, but he does bring his friend, Xavier Dolls. Rosita and Eliza arrive later, but still on time.</p>
<p>Over the weeks, they have spent more casual time together as a couple and couple of not coupled friends. She likes them both. They are both funny and kind, and always seem interested in the nerdy things that Waverly has to say.</p>
<p>Nicole is sweet and attentive throughout their meal. Wynonna orders something far too pricey, something that Waverly will definitely not be eating. Nicole orders something a little more on the conservative side, something that Waverly can taste if she so pleases. Dinner is calm and conversations stay respectful, save from an occasional outburst from Wynonna.</p>
<p>Mostly, Waverly is thinking about the decision she’s come to about asking Nicole to move in. As a planner, she’s given it a lot of thought. More than she’s even let on.</p>
<p>After they’ve eaten, a mingle starts. She engages in a conversation with Jeremy as well as one of her old friends from university. She catches sight of Nicole talking with Rosita and Eliza. When they lock eyes, Nicole offers her a grin but turns to walk in the opposite direction. Waverly excuses herself and follows in Nicole’s direction.</p>
<p>She waits outside of the one-person bathroom for Nicole to exit. She’s probably only waiting for a minute or two, but Nicole isn’t expecting her and nearly runs right into her. Nicole’s hands catch her by the upper arms, keep her steady.</p>
<p>“Whoa, baby,” Nicole says, “Didn’t expect you.”</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Waverly replies.</p>
<p>“No worries,” Nicole says with a smile, “Everything ok?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Waverly says, “Just missed you.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Nicole hums.</p>
<p>Wrapping her arms around Waverly, she pulls her in and kisses her lightly. It makes the flutter in her belly return. Waverly circles her arms around Nicole’s middle and hugs her.</p>
<p>“Can ask you a question?” Waverly says.</p>
<p>“Anything,” Nicole answers, hugging Waverly back.</p>
<p>“Do you think you might want to move in with me?” Waverly says.</p>
<p>Nicole laughs, hugging Waverly tighter. She says, “I’ll move in with you.”</p>
<p>“I really love you,” Waverly says, “Will you take me home?”</p>
<p>“You ready to go?” Nicole double checks.</p>
<p>“I just want to spend the rest of my birthday with you,” Waverly admits.</p>
<p>Nicole nods and releases her hold. She feels Nicole entwine the fingers before she leads Waverly back to the party to say goodbye to her guests. After making the rounds, and Wynonna assuring she’s staying somewhere else for the night, they head back to her apartment.</p>
<p>When they get home, they go through a more familiar routine of getting ready for bed. They crawl into it and curl around each other, talking until well past midnight. Waverly falls asleep with the certainty that her future is in good hands, with Nicole.</p>
<p>She’s never felt quite like this before, but she thinks it’s a feeling that will last forever.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for joining me on this ride.  I hope that I didn't disappoint and that you actually enjoyed yourself.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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